USVI HELD HOSTAGE! WAPA says blackouts will continue due to fuel, cash shortages

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Power failures continued this week in the St. Thomas-St. John district for a third day in a row Thursday, as the Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority implemented rolling blackouts to conduct repairs on one of the main generators, Unit 23.

WAPA said in a statement Wednesday night that, “Due to financial challenges, there is low diesel fuel inventory. Unit 23 is experiencing fluctuations in fuel pressures affecting the overall performance of the unit resulting in leaks on the fuel system.” In addition, “Unit 15 is scheduled to be taken offline (Friday) to replace the gas valve allowing the unit to return back to propane operation. WAPA is expecting a diesel shipment on Sunday as weather permits.”

WAPA published a schedule of feeders that would be under rolling blackouts Thursday, but the outage times were not accurate. The situation worsened at around 7:35 p.m. Thursday night when transmission line Feeder 13 failed, leaving around 9,400 customers without power. WAPA spokeswoman Shanell Petersen and Government House Communications Director Richard Motta Jr. did not respond to questions from The Daily News could not immediately be reached about the notice, and it’s unclear if the power failures will continue until the fuel shipment arrives.