In his role as Executive Managing Director, Global Business Intelligence, Jeff Conklin leads Utilities Intelligence and Technology, Media & Telecom Intelligence at J.D. Power. He oversees the company’s industry benchmark studies, proprietary research, consulting, and performance improvement programs focused on improving the customer experience.

Mr. Conklin has 35 years of experience in strategic planning, customer experience optimization, and managing and measuring customer interactions. Prior to joining J.D. Power in 2001, Mr. Conklin was a management consultant with Navigant.

Mr. Conklin earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with emphasis on energy studies from Duke University, and a master’s degree in management with concentrations in finance and marketing from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Andrew Heath is Managing Director, Utilities Intelligence at J.D. Power. He is responsible for the company’s water, natural gas, electric and airport customer satisfaction studies in the United States and Canada, as well as the company’s Utility Website Evaluation Study. 

Dr. Heath has more than 25 years of experience working within the utility and infrastructure sectors in both the United States and the UK. Prior to joining.

J.D. Power in 2011, he was the director of customer satisfaction services at E Source. Additionally, he launched and directed the company’s benchmarking studies for electric and gas company websites and interactive voice response units. Previously, he was acting chief information officer 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 Managing Director, Utilities Intelligence at J.D. 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 J.D. 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.

Chris Oberle is Managing Director, Utilities Practice at J.D. 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 J.D. Power in 2022 after previously working for the company for 13 years.

Prior to rejoining J.D. 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.

Adrian Chung is a director for Utilities Intelligence at J.D. Power. In this role, Adrian is focused on providing clients with insights, data and analytics to support decision-making related to improving customer satisfaction performance, loyalty and advocacy. His role also extends to leverage the company’s Electric Vehicle intelligence to help stakeholders accelerate EV adoption.

Adrian has over 15 years of market research experience and has served in several roles at the company, including sales and business development. During his tenure, he has helped clients address customer needs across various industries, including telecom, automotive, financial services, insurance, and real estate companies.

Adrian holds a bachelor’s degree in math and business from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario.

Mark Spalinger is a Director of Utilities Intelligence at J.D. 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 J.D. Power in 2006.

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

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 J.D. 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.