Ronald Gaudet of Old Lyme, a former U.S. Navy officer, has been named the new director of utilities at Groton Utilities.

Gaudet, previously director of utilities at the University of Connecticut and a senior utilities engineer at Pfizer Inc., succeeds Paul Yatcko, who took a similar position in South Norwalk.

Gaudet takes over a municipally owned electric and water company with $67.6 million in revenues during the most recent fiscal year.

At Pfizer, Gaudet had responsibility for all utilities and the company's cogeneration plant. At UConn, he spent the first seven years as a utility and energy manager, taking over as director of utilities and energy management during his final three years.

More recently, he had been general manager of Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions. Early in his carrer, he was a commissioned officer in the Navy working on surface ships.