Breaking

Normalcy is beginning to take hold in the U.S. Virgin Islands as the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority continues to reenergize communities across the territory. Below, find WAPA’s latest restoration update.

ELECTRIC SYSTEM

On all three islands Wednesday, additional customers were energized as WAPA’s crews and contractors continued reconstruction and restoration work.
On St. Croix, some customers on Feeder 4A in Sion Hill and Little Princesse were restored, while on Feeder 5A, additional customers in Barren Spot as well as businesses to the west of the Sunny Isle Shopping Center, to include the Social Security offices and the Board of Elections, were energized. On Feeder 8B in Frederiksted, customers on Hospital and King Cross Streets, and on a portion of Prince Street were restored, as well as the Legislature Complex, Whim Gardens Home for the Elderly, and the Marley housing community. Other restored customers include the Frederiksted Fire Services building, and several condo complexes to include Ocean Terrace and Bay Garden. On Thursday, crews will work in the Beeston Hill area, in Estate Rattan, and from the Richmond power plant to The Home Depot on Melvin Evans Highway.
On St. John, crews worked to reconstruct electrical circuits in the area of Glucksberg, past the Sirenusa development, and from Calabash Boom to Coral Bay. Reconstruction crews continue to work on primary circuits that will provide service to customers in Coral Bay.
On St. Thomas, crews planted several poles in Old Tutu and will continue to work this week reconstructing primary circuits of restoring service to customers. Other crews prepared circuits on Feeder 7C for customer restoration in Anna’s Retreat, Coki Point and Bovoni. Customers in the Subbase area on Feeder 10A were also restored on Wednesday as well as a primary circuit on Feeder 8A extending from the Harley power plant to the area of the Jane E. Tuitt school campus. Crews planted two additional poles on the St. Thomas side of Feeder 5A which are required before the submarine cable to energize Water Island can be brought on line. On Thursday, crews are expected to energize circuits leading to the Mahogany Run condos on Feeder 9C
Another 200 linemen are expected to arrive over the next few days to join WAPA’s Line Department personnel, as well as our on-island and off-island contractors. The latest round of linemen will bring to more than 750 total, the number of electrical personnel who are in the territory working on our recovery from the catastrophic September hurricanes. As of early this week, more than 16,000 customers have been restored territory-wide.
Through an agreement reached with the Department of Planning & Natural Resources, WAPA will restore electrical service to homes with temporary roofs (blue roofs) once a licensed electrician has certified, in writing, that the structure is safe to energize.
Customers and electricians are reminded that it is against the law to remove or otherwise destroy meter seals. If work needs to be done to repair a damaged meter base and/or weather head, customers must call the Emergency Call Center at 340-774-1424 on St. Thomas-St. John or 340-773-0150 on St. Croix. The call centers operate seven days a week, 9 am – 5 pm.
If your electric meter was removed by WAPA personnel to facilitate repairs to either a meter base and/or weather head, once repairs are completed and a licensed electrician certifies the work in writing, customers are required to contact the Customer Service office to ensure that the meter will be reinstalled and resealed prior to the restoration of electrical service. All fees usually associated with meter removal and reconnection have been waived. Customer service offices are operating Monday-Friday, 9 am – 4 pm at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas.
Reconstruction, restoration and hurricane debris removal crews are deployed across the islands. Motorists are asked to exercise caution when driving through the work areas and to heed the directions of flaggers, military personnel and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.
WAPA urges residents to shut off standby generators when line crews are in your neighborhood restoring electrical service. A standby generator has the potential to back feed electricity to the grid which poses a severe safety risk to restoration crews.

POTABLE WATER SYSTEM

There are six days (76%) of emergency water storage on St. John, eight days (60%) on St. Thomas, and five days (70%) on St. Croix.

WAPA urges clean-up contractors and homeowners in both districts to exercise caution when piling debris on and around potable water meters. There are a growing number of instances where water meters are being damaged by clean-up equipment grading debris and causing damage to the roadside water meters. The continued damage by heavy equipment poses difficulty in maintaining or restoring potable water service to customers.

OTHER INFORMATION

WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-3552; St. Croix district, 340-773-2250
Customer Service Offices are operating Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas.
The latest information on the restoration effort is available on the WAPA website, www.viwapa.vi and on Facebook: Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority.