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WAPA Electrical Repairs Delayed

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority acknowledges the continued impact to customers across the St. Thomas–St. John district, as service rotations persist longer than initially anticipated due to complications encountered during the generation restart process.

The Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Kit MacAvoy)
The Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Kit MacAvoy)

Monday, crews made significant progress on Unit 27; however, challenges during the restart and testing phase have delayed its return to service. While repairs and final assembly are largely complete, additional time is required to safely stabilize the unit and ensure reliable operation before it can be fully brought online. WAPA remains focused on completing this process as quickly and safely as possible, recognizing that Unit 27 still represents the most immediate opportunity to increase available generation capacity.

Because WAPA’s largest generating units are offline, the system does not currently have enough capacity to meet peak demand between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. Once online, Unit 27 is expected to eliminate the need for rotations.

At this time, the majority of resources remain concentrated on Unit 27 to support the fastest path toward increased generation. Until additional capacity is restored and fully stabilized, customers may continue to experience both scheduled service rotations and unplanned outages as system demand fluctuates.

WAPA understands the toll these ongoing disruptions are having on the community, especially following expectations that service conditions would improve. We sincerely thank the public for its continued support and assure customers that crews are working extensively to restore stable and reliable service.

Customers are encouraged to remain connected to WAPA by signing up for outage alerts and regularly checking official communication channels for the latest updates on restoration progress and service rotations.

Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
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