John is an energy innovator and thought leader with 30 years experience in entrepreneurial, consulting, business development, sales, marketing, political, and research roles. Key consulting clients have included Austin Energy, Tropos Networks, Cellnet, the City of San Marcos, Xtreme Power, the Pecan Street Project, Sharp Labs of America, Grid Net, Enerjisa Baskent, New Brunswick Power and Tucson Electric.

As a nationally-recognized innovator in energy (FierceEnergy: list of the 15 most influential players in the energy industry in 2011, GreenTech Media: The Networked Grid 100: The Movers and Shakers of the Smart Grid in 2012), John recently launched two companies: Prsenl, a marketing company developing the emerging Personal Energy market (innovation for value-added electricity); and MaaS Energy, a project design consultancy to develop microgrids designed for specific building types and business needs.

John was a principal in the launch of Siemens Business Transformation Services efforts in the US in 2014-2016, with focus on innovators and areas of industry change. In 2013, John served as a management consultant and smart grid subject matter expert at the Siemens North American Smart Grid Center of Competence in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Earlier that year, John worked with Actionable Strategies on a Smart Grid Roadmap project with Enerjisa Baskent in Ankara, Turkey.

In 2012, John worked to create industry-specific solutions for commercial building owners by applying new business models (e.g., nanogrids, microgrids) while at NextWatt Solutions. In 2010 and 2011, John worked with Grid Net, a pioneer Smart Grid software company, and with Sharp Labs to develop business models for virtual power plants.

In 2009, John helped his client Xtreme Power, an advanced lead acid energy storage company, to secure a multi-million dollar federal loan guarantee to implement energy storage for renewable energy integration on a wind farm in Maui. In 2009, John was also a leader in the Pecan Street Project, leading the Smart Grid committee and writing the final technical report.

Earlier at Austin Energy, John ran the GENie Project in 2004 and 2005, leading utility management to explore broadband options for utility operations and launching the groundbreaking Smart Grid program. From 2003-2008, John was a Smart Cities consultant, focused on developing and implementing Smart City applications leveraging new wireless technologies.

John's early career in electricity (1996-2000) featured work on pioneer wireless AMR and energy data software at CSW Communications, a subsidiary of Central and South West (now AEP), including one of the first city-wide wireless meter reading projects. John helped launch the Texas Senate Research Center in 1986, serving as director from 1987-1994.

John authored two chapters recently: The Innovation Platform Enables the Internet of Things in Future of Utilities - Utilities of the Future (March 2016) and Quintessential innovation for transformation of the power sector in Innovation & Disruption At the Grid’s Edge (May 2017). John was invited to speak on innovation at OMIE headquarters in Madrid in May 2016. John is author of two 2015 white papers on business transformation while at Siemens: The Art of the Managed Transition and DER Resiliency.

John is co-author of the 2011 industry best seller The Advanced Smart Grid: Edge Power Driving Sustainability (2nd Edition released in Spring 2015). This book documents John’s work at Austin Energy launching a pioneer smart grid in 2004 and in the Pecan Street Project designing an energy internet in 2009. Smart Grid News called The Advanced Smart Grid “…far and away the best book yet about the smart grid.”

John’s 2008 book The ABCs of Community Broadband: How Digital Transitions Will Transform America’s Communities, One at a Time is a guidebook on smart cities for community leaders. John is an accomplished public speaker and has published numerous articles on electricity and broadband innovation in traditional and new media. John has an MBA with honors and a BA in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. John currently resides in Austin, Texas.