Jim Alberts, Vice President, Customer Operations, KCP&L

Mr. Alberts directs all customer-facing departments including the call center and field services. He was previously responsible for customer contact centers, billing, remittance, accounts receivable management, revenue assurance, service order planning and dispatching for all customers in Aquila's electric and gas regulated operating areas.

When he joined Aquila in 1987, he managed field operations at Peoples Natural Gas for eight years and then in 1995 moved into the company's reengineering efforts in Kansas City, where he spent the next four years improving sales processes and consolidating customer information systems into a new platform. He then held a series of positions focused on process improvement in customer service: manager of quality assurance; director of revenue assurance; and leader of supply chain deployment of Six Sigma at Aquila from 2004 to June 2005. He previously worked in the retail sector, managing operations for Kay-Bee Toy Stores.

He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Minnesota State University at Mankato, Minn., and a master's in business administration from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Alberts is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.