U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS— Governor Albert Bryan Jr., issued the following statement Monday announcing that the Government of the Virgin Islands has completed the advancement of the payment of $45 million to VITOL as part of a settlement agreement between the company and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority:
“I am pleased to announce today that with the assistance of the GVI, WAPA has fully satisfied the initial $45 million payment to VITOL as part of the negotiated settlement agreement for control of the propane terminals at the Authority’s Randolph Harley plant in St. Thomas and Estate Richmond plant in St. Croix.
“Once completed, this settlement agreement will afford WAPA better financial footing to complete its resiliency projects, which include the addition of a substantial amount of renewable energy to the grid. It affords the Authority the ability to satisfy its obligations to other vendors, and more importantly, put the Authority in the position to ultimately deliver more affordable and efficient service to its rate-payers.”
“We still have a long way to go, but today represents the first real step toward this long-sought-after goal. I want to, again, thank the members of the 35th Legislature for authorizing the Government of the Virgin Islands to establish a line of credit to meet today’s payment deadline as part of the negotiated agreement, and I also want to thank our financial team, the leadership team at WAPA and our financial partners in making this arrangement possible on behalf of the people of the Virgin Islands,” Governor Bryan said.
The Bryan-Roach Administration is investing in the Territory’s people, infrastructure and future through transparency, stabilizing the economy, restoring trust in the government and ensuring that recovery projects are completed as quickly as possible. Visit transparency.vi.gov