PARIS--The French government officially appointed Jean-Bernard Levy as chief executive and chairman of the state-controlled energy utility Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) during a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

The French cabinet appointed Mr. Levy on the recommendation of the country's finance and economy ministers, the government, which controls about 85% of EDF, said.

Mr. Levy, who until now was CEO of defense and electronics group Thales (HO.FR), was appointed by the government to replace the former CEO, Henri Proglio, who was approaching retirement age and has had a number of run-ins with President Francois Hollande over the latter's plan to reduce the share of nuclear power in the country's energy mix.

Mr. Levy was appointed board member of EDF last Friday and interim CEO last Sunday by the company's board.

Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

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