The governing board, management and staff of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority join with family and friends of Alberto Bruno-Vega to mourn his passing.
“ABV”, as he was affectionately called around the authority, served as executive director from 1989 to 1995 and again from 2002 to 2007. While at the authority during his first assignment, Bruno-Vega spearheaded the utility’s enormous effort to recover from Hurricane Hugo, which devastated the territory in 1989. He resigned from the authority saying that it was time for him to spend more time with his family in Puerto Rico, who he dearly missed. When he left the authority in 1995, Bruno-Vega was credited with transforming the efficiency and reliability of the authority’s generating as well as transmission and distribution systems. After leaving WAPA, Bruno-Vega became executive vice president for Bermudez and Longo, the largest mechanical and electrical contractor in Puerto Rico.
Seven years later, in November 2002, WAPA’s Governing Board recruited Bruno-Vega to once again lead the authority. In his second assignment as WAPA’s chief executive officer, Bruno-Vega inherited a utility battling skyrocketing fuel prices. He initiated the first of many efforts by WAPA to locate an alternative and renewable energy provider to reduce the cost of energy to the Authority’s customers. Of all his accomplishments during his tenure at the Authority, Bruno-Vega said that his greatest achievement was building a team of better managers and technical professionals through his mentorship and intensive training. “This is the best thing," Bruno-Vega said, "I feel comfortable with what I am leaving behind." In his 2007 resignation letter, Bruno-Vega said that he regarded the Virgin Islands as his “home away from home.”
WAPA Executive Director Hugo V. Hodge Jr. said, “on behalf of our WAPA family, I extend sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Bruno-Vega. He was greatly loved by his WAPA family and his accomplishments at the authority will be remembered forever.”
