John P. Banks

John P. Banks is a Senior Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He has over 30 years of experience in the energy industry, specifically in consulting, academia, and at a leading think tank. Since 2009 he has been affiliated with SAIS, first as an adjunct professor and then becoming a full-time faculty member in 2016.  He currently serves as faculty co-lead of the Development, Climate and Sustainability focus area within the two-year Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) degree program.

Banks teaches Global Electricity Markets, Energy Transitions in the US, and leads the Energy and Environment Practicum, an innovative course in which second-year MAIR students work with external client organizations on projects addressing environmental and energy policy challenges. Banks also designed and teaches the first course in SAIS’ new Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy online degree program, launched in the Fall of 2020.

Prof. Banks recently oversaw two student research field projects: examining electricity access challenges in Myanmar, and assessing the city of Seoul, South Korea’s efforts at deploying clean energy, especially solar PV. Professor Banks was selected by the student body to receive the 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Banks’ research focuses on the ongoing transformation of the global electricity sector, with a particular interest in the intersection of technology innovation, policy, and regulatory trends as they impact de-carbonization approaches and evolving business models. In 2019, he published a co-authored assessment of alternative, sub-national electricity service models in the U.S., specifically community choice aggregation, the sustainable energy utility, and municipal utilities. In another peer-reviewed, research overview article (2022) he assessed how different types of electricity markets in the U.S are impacted by variable renewable resources and distributed energy resources, and how these markets are adapting and innovating to accommodate these resources.

For nine years (2009-2018), he served as a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution. He contributed to the formation of, and helped run, Brookings’ Global Electricity and Technology Roundtable, a bi-annual, private meeting of senior utility and technology industry executives, state and federal government officials, financial institutions, regulators, academia, and others designed to discuss major developments in the electricity sector globally. While at Brookings, Banks played a leading role in developing and carrying out research efforts dealing with nuclear power, the transition of the electricity sector in Germany and Japan, the role of distributed energy resources in the US, electricity access in emerging markets, and the future role of coal.

Prior to working at a think tank and in academia, he was a consultant for over 20 years advising governments, companies, and regulators throughout the world on energy policy, security, and governance issues. He has worked for a number of firms including Nexant, Inc. the successor company to Bechtel Technology & Consulting, and BearingPoint (now Deloitte) in New York.

He has authored or co-authored dozens of energy reports, published numerous articles, and has provided expert testimony. Banks has worked in more than 30 countries outside the U.S., and holds an MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.