The governing board of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority on Thursday announced its selection of Lawrence J. Kupfer as the next Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the utility, effective March 1, 2018.
Kupfer comes to the Authority after more than 20 years with Hess Corporation and its affiliated companies. He is also a former president of the Virgin Islands Next Generation Network. Most recently, Kupfer was Chief Operating Officer of FarmPod, LLC, a Virgin Islands company providing executive leadership for startup businesses.
His extensive experience with Hess Corporation includes managerial positions in both New York and the Virgin Islands including a six-year tenure as President and Chief Operating Officer of HOVENSA, LLC on St. Croix. In that position, he provided executive leadership for the 500,000 barrel per day refinery. Early in his career, Kupfer held the position of Senior Engineer with Exxon Research & Engineering Company in both New Jersey and Italy.
Kupfer said Thursday he “looks forward to joining WAPA so he can personally thank its employees for their efforts during the recovery efforts from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and to help lead the Authority to becoming the premier utility provider in the Caribbean.”
Kupfer holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Columbia Business School, Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Interim Executive Director / CEO Clinton Hedrington, Jr. will continue to lead the Authority through March 1 after which he will assume his permanent position as Chief Operating Officer of the WAPA Electric System.