Forest Kaser

Forest Michael Kaser was appointed Director of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety  by Governor Gavin Newsom on May 15, 2026. He was sworn in by Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot on May 26, 2026.

Before his appointment, Kaser served as chief deputy executive director with the California Public Utilities Commission. Kaser previously held several roles at the CPUC since joining in 2015, including deputy executive director for Safety Enforcement, Safety Policy and Water; supervisor of the Resiliency and Microgrids team;  energy advisor to the CPUC President; and senior public utilities regulatory analyst on the Renewables Portfolio Standard and Integrated Resource Planning team. He was senior project manager with Energy Solutions from 2009 to 2015. Kaser was a staff research associate and graduate student researcher at University of California, Berkeley from 2005 to 2009. He was an assistant scientist at Pesticide Action Network in 2004, a natural resources volunteer at the United States Peace Corps from 2001 to 2003, an apprentice inside wireman at Farwest Electric from 2000 to 2001, and a program associate at Illahee Society from 1999 to 2000.

Kaser earned a Master of Science degree in Energy and Resources and Master of Science degree in Microbiology from University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Reed College.