Lorraine White has joined GEI Consultants Inc., Sacramento, as its water-energy program manager. Before moving to the geotechnical, environmental, water resources and ecological science and engineering firm, White served as the state Energy Commission's lead on California's water-energy nexus, representing the commission in regulatory policy deliberations at the California Public Utilities Commission, the Dept. of Water Resources and the Water Energy sub-team of the governor's Climate Action Team.

She also helped the state develop and implement a wide variety of resource efficiency, environmental protection and clean-energy development policies.

Scott Kruse and Tom O'Neil were appointed senior principals at DLR Group. The firm also named Ron van der Veen and Bill Judge as principals.

Kruse joined DLR Group in its Seattle office in 1981. He is the firm's Northwest regional leader, managing operations and mentoring staff in Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and Honolulu.

O'Neil is the Southwest regional leader for DLR Group, directing operations in six states and offices in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Denver and Colorado Springs. He joined the firm in Phoenix in 1989 and worked with the firm as a project leader, K-12 sector leader and office leader.

Van der Veen is a recognized higher-education designer and was a founding board member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

Judge is the practice leader of the firm's Inland Empire operations in Riverside. He joined DLR Group in 2002, and his experience in quality assurance has had a positive impact on design and schedules, the firm says.

Frank Schetter has been appointed to the Contractors' State License Board by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. (D). Schetter is CEO of Schetter Electric Inc., Sacramento. He also is the current governor of the National Electrical Contractors Association's Greater Sacramento Chapter and a member of the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. Schetter served on the Sacramento County Code Appeals Board, Sacramento City Advisory and Appeals Board, NECA/International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Joint Apprenticeship Board, NECA/IBEW Health and Welfare Board, NECA/IBEW State Wide Labor Management Cooperation Committee and Sacramento Region Builders Board.

Michael Vargas was recently hired at Reno Contracting, San Diego. Vargas will lead the firm's efficient sustainable practices division. He is the founder of Atlas Project Support, a provider of energy management, environmental sustainability, logistics and construction management services. With more than 10 years of construction and project management experience, Vargas has a background in major clean-energy technologies such as wind, solar and geothermal and has created tools to help clients develop strong and scalable green businesses.

Toby Foster was named solar preconstruction/project manager. Prior to joining Reno, he was senior project engineer/estimator at Independent Energy Solutions, where he estimated projects and managed preconstruction operations for solar, wind and hybrid projects for commercial and government customers. He also held positions at HelioPower and GE Wind Energy.