WAPA Completes 48 Percent Power Restoration; 42 Percent To Go Before Christmas

Will the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority meet its goal of restoring 90 percent of its customers before Christmas? The utility said on Wednesday that it has completed 48 percent restoration so far, leaving it with another 42 percent of customers to restore in two weeks.

To meet its goal, WAPA will have over 800 linemen in the territory by mid-December, but the task ahead is herculean, and it remains to be seen whether WAPA will accomplish it.

Below, the latest update:

ELECTRIC SYSTEM

• With the territory-wide restoration of electric service now estimated at 48%, reconstruction and restoration continued Wednesday, interrupted at times, by inclement weather.
• • On St. Croix, some customers in the following areas were restored: Southgate, Tipperary, Sight, Union & Mount Washington, Catherine’s Rest, La Grange, White Lady, Barren Spot, Mary’s Fancy, Rattan, Sion Hill, Shoys, Mount Pleasant East and Hannah’s Rest.

• • On St. John, some customers in Chocolate Hole, Carolina, Pocket Money Hill, Glucksberg, Upper Fish Bay, Bordeaux, Upper Carolina, Ajax Peak and Hard Labor were restored.

• • On St. Thomas, additional customers were restored in Altona & Welgunst, Mariendahl, Nadir, Frydendal, Nazareth, Sapphire Village,  Tutu Valley, Old Tutu, Mandahl, Upper John Dunkoe, Lower Scott Free, Lindbergh Bay, Contant, Bonne Resolution, Frenchman’s Bay, Hull Bay and Hospital Ground.

• • On Water Island, all but two customers have been restored.
• Priority areas for restoration of service for the next five days include:

St. Croix: William’s Delight, Lorraine Village, Upper Love, Lower Love, Grove Place, Mt. Pleasant, Catherine’s Rest, Peter’s Rest, Anna’s Hope, Work and Rest, Humbug, Mount Welcome, Estate St. John, Judith’s Fancy, Mon Bijou, Calquahoun, Estate Glynn, Container Port, Little Fountain, La Vallee and the Rain Forest.

St. Thomas: Lindbergh Bay, Solberg, Dorothea, East Caret Bay, West Caret Bay, Brass View, Subbase, Peterborg, Skyline Drive, St. Joseph & Rosendahl, Frenchman’s Bay, Hawk Hill, Bolongo, Anna’s Retreat, Tutu, Smith Bay, Mandhal, Frydenhoj and Nazareth.

St. John: Coral Bay and Carolina.

• On Thursday, the Valdemar Hill Sr. Drive, “Skyline Drive” on St. Thomas, will be closed to vehicular traffic from 8:30-11:30 a.m., and again from 1-4 p.m., as crews perform reconstruction work and debris removal. The road closure will be in effect from the intersection of Louisenhoj Castle to the Donoe Bypass. Area residents will be allowed to access their homes during the road closure. Alternate routes are available for motorists who must traverse the area. In addition, on Thursday, traffic flow may be restricted to one-lane at times on Harwood Highway from Subbase to the Cancryn Junior High School as work continues on the reconstruction of a primary circuit.
• Customers are reminded that homes with temporary roofs (blue roofs) will be restored with electrical service once a licensed electrician has certified, in writing, that the structure is safe to energize.
• 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 notify the Customer Service office. All fees usually associated with meter removal and reconnection have been waived during this restoration period. Customer service offices operate 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 and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.

Residents are reminded of the need 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 of emergency water storage on St. John, eight days on St. Thomas, and five days on St. Croix. Customers toward the west end of St. Croix will continue to experience low water pressure at times as efforts continue to build capacity in the Kingshill storage tank.
• 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 operate 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.