John has more than 25 years of senior executive leadership in the public power sector. He served as SMUD’s Assistant General Manager overseeing all customer-facing facets of the business before serving as SMUD’s Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure, SMUD was rated by J.D. Power as 1st in the West for overall customer satisfaction and among the top 5 utilities nationwide. While at SMUD, John oversaw the design and implementation of several technology and program innovations.

• Service Delivery and Information Technology which automated SMUD’s operational processes, including the first Geographical Information System, Outage Management, Mobile Data Dispatch, and Engineering System Support.

• Solar Shares, which provided a virtual net metering option for customers unable or unwilling to install solar power on their residences.

• SMART Sacramento which was a $300 million plus project leveraging a $200 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant (the largest in California and among the largest awarded nationally). Completed in 13 months, this complex project included rollout of first-generation AMI smart meters, extensive distribution automation upgrades, the installation of on-site renewable and electric vehicle charging infrastructure facilities and piloting the landmark time-differentiated and critical peak pricing program.

After retiring from SMUD, John served as the President of the Large Public Power Council, representing the largest 29 public power utilities across 22 states, plus Puerto Rico. During his tenure, John led the member utilities in the development of collective policy positions on a wide range of utility issues, testifying and lobbying before State Legislatures, Congress and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Over his career, John also served in numerous industry leadership roles, including as the President of the Northwest Public Power Association, President of the California Municipal Utilities Association, Executive Board member of the American Public Power Association, Vice-Chair of the Large Public Power Council, and as an Advisory Board Member at E-Source advising the organization on utility program design and implementation.