Calls to Locatis and the California Office of the Chief Information Officer for confirmation were not immediately returned.
Heading to the U.S. Department of Energy would reunite Locatis with familiar places and people. Prior to being named California chief deputy CIO in June, Locatis worked for three years as CIO of Colorado, which is home to several DOE facilities, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. Locatis would conceivably also work again with former Colorado and California IT security chief Mark Weatherford, who is currently the vice president and chief security officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
Locatis has also served as the CIO of Denver and worked in the private sector for TimeWarner.
At the DOE, Locatis would replace Tom Pyke, who retired.
When Locatis came to work for California last summer, he was the presumed successor for current state CIO Teri Takai, who at the time was in line to become the Defense Department’s CIO. That position has since been pulled back in a restructuring of the Pentagon proposed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Takai remains California’s CIO.
In June, Locatis told Government Technology he was interested in working for California beyond the end of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s term in January 2011.
“I will stay as long as California needs me,” Locatis said at the time.
