Jeff Kissel, head of the Hawaii Health Connector, is leaving the state’s Obamacare insurance exchange Dec. 4 to join a public-policy energy think tank on the mainland.

Kissel, 65, was named Friday a Distinguished Fellow of Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc., a nonpartisan group based in Washington, D.C.

He joined the Connector in October 2014 as its third executive director in a year, inheriting a politicized organization plagued with computer problems, mismanagement and multimillion-dollar contracts that drew the ire of lawmakers and state officials.

Under his tenure, Obamacare enrollments grew more than fourfold to nearly 40,000 in its second year from about 8,500 in its first year of operations. He is currently heading the transition of Obamacare enrollments to the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, as the Connector prepares to end operations in 2016. The Connector was created by the federal Affordable Care Act to provide subsidized medical coverage to qualified residents.

“Based on my experience, I believe Hawaii has the potential to be the first state in the nation with a near-zero uninsured rate as we continue to harmonize Hawaii’s employer-provided insurance with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act,” Kissel said. “My profession is energy and energy infrastructure, and this offers me an opportunity to become part of an energy policymaking team for the country.”

Kissel, who began his career as a crude-oil trader in the midst of the oil crisis of the 1970s, previously was president and chief executive officer of Hawaii Gas. There he helped to grow what started as a small business into a diversified organization in just five years. He also held senior roles and led strategy at URS Corp., one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies. Kissel received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist.

“With more than 35 years’ experience in the energy sector as CEO, director and chief strategy officer for some of America’s largest energy and infrastructure organizations, Jeff brings a unique perspective to (Energy Policy Research Foundation’s) team of policy specialists,” said Lucian Pugliaresi, president of the Energy Policy Research Foundation.

The nonprofit Energy Policy Research Foundation, founded in 1944, studies energy economics and policy issues with special emphasis on oil, natural gas and petroleum product markets. It is funded by a variety of donors including foundations, the private sector and the U.S. government.