Utilities Solutions

Andrew Heath is Vice President, Utility and Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Intelligence at JD Power.

Dr. Heath has more than 30 years of experience working within the services and utility sectors in both the United States and the UK. He leads the JD Power Sustainability Leadership Program. Prior to joining JD Power in 2011, he was the director of customer satisfaction services at E Source. Prior to that, he was CIO at Powergen, now E.ON, where he developed the company’s UK e-business strategy.

Dr. Heath received a bachelor’s degree in management science from the University of Lancaster and a Ph.D. in management science from Imperial College, London.

John Hazen is Senior Director, Utilities Intelligence at JD Power. He is responsible for working with utilities across the United States to help them understand the importance of customer satisfaction and how to improve their customers’ experience.

Mr. Hazen joined JD Power in 2008 as director, Voice of the Customer. Prior to that, he was the director of Guest Services at the Disney Internet Group. Previously, he led award-winning call center sites for Saturn, DirecTV and OnStar. He also has international experience in managing offshore
teams.

Mr. Hazen earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Western Michigan
University.

Carl Lepper is the Senior Director of JD Power Utility & TMT Intelligence.

His responsibilities include managing and supporting clients through custom analysis, executive presentations, and consulting.

Mr. Lepper also provides oversight of national syndicated studies, including questionnaire design and development, fielding, data analysis, and delivery. In addition to providing support to managing directors, account executives, research operations, and project management with all aspects of each study.

Chris Oberle is Senior Director, Utilities Practice at JD Power where he develops and delivers research and best practices that advise clients on paths to improve customer satisfaction with core service, brand perceptions, product development, customer engagement, communications and outreach efforts. Mr. Oberle has 25 years of experience advising utility managements on how to optimize their customer experiences. He rejoined JD Power in 2022 after previously working for the company for 13 years.

Prior to rejoining JD Power, Mr. Oberle was a Senior Vice President at Escalent, where he founded and led the syndicated utility practice. In this role, he managed all aspects of the residential and business customer trust and engagement benchmark studies, performance modeling and analysis, management advisory, and best practice reporting. He also developed value-added business partnerships with leading industry consulting and market information firms.

Previously, Mr. Oberle was a Principal at Navigant Consulting, where he was engaged to consult on retail energy company development, ESCO product development, customer service innovation, and process design and improvement.

Mr. Oberle is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Ramah Vaughn is a Director of Utilities Intelligence, where he delivers actionable insights to utilities across the country to improve customer satisfaction. Mr. Vaughn is also responsible for helping clients prioritize initiatives based on voice-of-the-customer data. Before joining JD Power, Mr. Vaughn led the customer insights team for Baltimore Gas & Electric where he was responsible for fielding research and improving customer experience. Mr. Vaughn earned a bachelor’s degree in information science from Morgan State University.

Mark Spalinger is a Director of Utilities Intelligence at JD Power. He is responsible for delivering actionable insights and thought leadership to utilities across the United States to help them understand the importance of customer satisfaction and how to improve their customers’ experience.

Previously at the company, Mr. Spalinger served as a Senior Consumer Insights Analyst, Research Manager, Research Supervisor, Research Specialist and Research Associate within the Utility Practice. He joined JD Power in 2006.

Mr. Spalinger received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from California State University Northridge.