United States Secretary of Energy

The **United States Secretary of Energy** is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in the Presidential line of succession.  The post was created with the formation of the Department of Energy on October 1, 1977 by President Jimmy Carter's signing of the Department of Energy Organization Act. The position was originally developed to focus on energy production and regulation. During the 1980s, the emphasis shifted to development of technology for better, more efficient energy sources as well as education regarding energy. As the Cold War ended, the department's efforts were more often devoted to nuclear waste disposal and maintenance of environmental quality.

## List of secretaries of energy

- Parties
 (7)  (9)

- Status

|No.|class=unsortable|Portrait|Name|State of residence|Took office|Left office|Party|colspan=2|President(s)|||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|||Virginia|||Republican|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(1977–1981)|||||||||
|||Texas|||Democratic|||||||||||||
|||South Carolina|||Republican|rowspan=3 style="background: ;"||rowspan=3|(1981–1989)|||||||||
|||Oregon|||Republican|||||||||||||
|||California|||Republican|||||||||||||
|||California|||Republican|style="background: ;"||(1989–1993)||||||||||
|||Virginia|||Democratic|rowspan=4 style="background: ;"||rowspan=4|(1993–2001)|||||||||
|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"|Pennsylvania|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"|Democratic|||||||
|||Colorado|||Democratic|||||||||||||
|||New Mexico|||Democratic|||||||||||||
|||Michigan|||Republican|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2001–2009)|||||||||
|||Illinois|||Republican|||||||||||||
|||California|||Democratic|rowspan=3 style="background: ;"||rowspan=3|(2009–2017)|||||||||
|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"|Ohio|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"|Democratic|||||||
|||Massachusetts|||Democratic|||||||||||||
|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||rowspan=4 style="background: ;"||rowspan=4|(2017–2021)|
|||Texas|||Republican|||||||||||||
|rowspan=2||rowspan=2||rowspan=2|Texas|bgcolor="#E6E6AA"||bgcolor="#E6E6AA"||rowspan=2|Republican|||||||
|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"|Democratic|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2021–2025)|||
|||Michigan|||Democratic|||||||||||||
|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"||style="background:#e6e6aa;"|Republican|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2025–present)|||
|||Colorado||Incumbent|Republican|||||||||||||

## Living former secreatries of energy

As of September 2025, there are ten living former secretaries of energy, the oldest being Donald P. Hodel (served 1982-1985). The most recent death of a former secretary of state was that of Bill Richardson (served 1998-2001) on September 1, 2023.

## Infobox (official post)

- **post**: United States Secretary
- **body**: Energy
- **flag**: Flag of the United States Secretary of Energy.svg
- **flagborder**: yes
- **flagsize**: 130
- **flagcaption**: Flag of the secretary
- **insignia**: Seal of the United States Department of Energy.svg
- **insigniasize**: 120
- **insigniacaption**: Seal of the department
- **image**: Secretary Chris Wright Official Portrait.jpg
- **incumbent**: Chris Wright
- **incumbentsince**: February 4, 2025
- **department**: United States Department of Energy
- **style**: Madam Secretary (informal)
The Honourable#United States, The Honorable (formal)
- **member of**: United States Cabinet
United States National Security Council
- **reports to**: President of the United States
- **seat**: James V. Forrestal Building, Washington, D.C.
- **appointer**: The President of the United States
- **appointer qualified**: with United States Senate, Senate advice and consent
- **termlength**: No fixed term
- **formation**: August 6, 1977
- **first**: James R. Schlesinger
- **succession**: United States presidential line of succession, Fifteenth
- **deputy**: United States Deputy Secretary of Energy, Deputy Secretary
- **salary**: Executive Schedule, Executive Schedule, level I