HARRISBURG - Gov. Tom Corbett announced a series of key appointments Tuesday, including officials who will advise him as his administration grapples with plans to generate revenue from natural-gas extractors.

Michael Krancer, 53, of Bryn Mawr, was nominated secretary of environmental protection, subject to Senate confirmation. He is currently judge on the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.

Mr. Krancer will get some help from two deputy secretaries also appointed Tuesday: John Hines, 42, of Lebanon County, and Jeff Logan, 53 of Cumberland County.

Meanwhile, Mr. Corbett created a new position of "energy executive" for Patrick Henderson, 36, of Harrisburg.

The governor-elect went out of state to find a nominee for welfare secretary. If the Senate confirms, the job will go to Gary D. Alexander, 42, of Greenville, R.I.

Judge Krancer had been appointed to the hearing board by Republican Gov. Tom Ridge and re-appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat. He ran for Superior Court in 2007.

He previously served as assistant general counsel for the energy company Exelon Corp. and was a litigation partner for Dilworth Paxon and Blank Rome firms in Philadelphia. He ran for Supreme Court in 2007.

Mr. Henderson has been executive director of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee since 1999. In his new role, he will coordinate overall state energy policy, using expertise from all agencies, Mr. Corbett said.

Mr. Alexander most recently served as Rhode Island's director of health and human services. He has been credited with reforming the state's Medicaid program and reducing its welfare rolls by 30 percent.

"He has shown to have just the kind of experience we need right now in Pennsylvania," Mr. Corbett said in news release.

Mr. Hines has worked for the DEP since 1993.

Mr. Logan is director of new business development for Harris Corp. and previously served as Mr. Ridge's deputy secretary of administration.

First Published: January 12, 2011, 5:00 a.m.