Michael Chesser serves as Chairman of the Board of Great Plains Energy and KCP&L.  He joined the Company in October 2003 as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and retired as Chief Executive Officer in May of 2012.

Mr. Chesser’s notable career in the utility industry began at Baltimore Gas and Electric. He subsequently served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Atlantic Energy, Inc.; Chairman and CEO at Itron, Inc.; and President and CEO at GPU Energy, an electric utility serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Great Plains Energy, he was Chairman and CEO of United Water, which owns and operates several regulated water utilities along with its contract operations. 

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech; a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Loyola College, Baltimore; and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. He is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni of Georgia Tech.

While serving as Chairman and CEO of Great Plains Energy and KCP&L, Mr. Chesser took a national role in the research and development of energy technologies as past chairman of the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Board of Directors. He also served as a member of the board of directors of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).

Mr. Chesser currently serves as a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development (CED) in Washington, D.C. He also serves the CED as co-chair of the CED’s Subcommittee on Education and as a member of its Executive Committee, Policy and Impact Committee and Early Childhood Education Subcommittee.  He is also a member of the board of directors of Polypore, Inc. based in Charlotte, NC.