U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS — Governor Albert Bryan Jr. was briefed today on the restoration of Unit 27 and ongoing efforts to return additional generation to service during a meeting at Government House on St. Croix with Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority CEO Karl Knight and members of the WAPA Governing Board.
Following that briefing, the governor welcomed the restoration of Unit 27 at the Randolph Harley Power Plant and the suspension of rotation outages across the St. Thomas-St. John district, bringing relief after more than two weeks of sustained service disruptions.
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority brought Unit 27 online on April 7, restoring needed generation capacity and allowing rotation outages to end.
Governor Bryan first expressed his appreciation to residents and businesses across St. Thomas and St. John for their patience and resilience during the extended period of service interruptions.
“We asked a lot of our people over the past two weeks, and they responded with patience and resilience,” Governor Bryan said. “At the same time, I understand the frustration and the disruption this caused to daily life, to businesses, and to essential services. For that, I am sorry. Our people deserve better, and we remain focused on delivering a system that meets that expectation.”
Governor Bryan also thanked the men and women of the Authority, including plant personnel, technicians, and support crews, who worked extended hours under difficult conditions to return the unit to service.
“After more than two weeks of rotations, this is a welcome step forward for St. Thomas and St. John,” Governor Bryan said. “I want to thank the plant personnel and every worker at WAPA who stayed on the job and pushed through to get Unit 27 back online. That work matters, and it made a difference for our people.”
Governor Bryan urged WAPA to prioritize repairs to the transmission lines serving St. John as the Authority advances its plan to secure two generating units for the island. He also called for continued progress on restoring Unit 15 to service to increase available capacity and provide needed backup generation.
In addition, the governor said the Authority must continue moving forward with the prudent replacement of aging units at both the Randolph Harley and Richmond power plants, noting that long-term reliability depends on replacing equipment that has exceeded its useful life.
At the same time, Governor Bryan pointed to the administration’s broader energy strategy, including support for two utility-scale solar projects at Estates Bovoni and Fortuna. Those projects are expected to add approximately 35 megawatts of generation capacity to the St. Thomas-St. John grid and build on the model already in place on St. Croix at Estates Petronella and Hogensborg.
“We are addressing this on multiple fronts,” the governor said. “We are restoring units, moving forward with replacement, and building new capacity that reduces strain on the system. The work at Bovoni and Fortuna is part of that plan to deliver more reliable and more affordable energy over time.”
Governor Bryan reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the work needed to stabilize and modernize the Territory’s energy system.
“My commitment is stronger today than it was when I said we would fix WAPA,” he said. “That was never a boast. It was a commitment to stay the course, even when the work is difficult. We are going to keep pushing until the people of the Virgin Islands have the level of service they deserve.”
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