ST. CROIX — Virgin Islands residents came a step closer to having a reliable energy grid today with an announcement from Government House that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be replacing the entire St. Croix power plant and two generating units on St. Thomas.
The Virgin Islands Office of Disaster Recovery submitted a request to FEMA in conjunction with the VI Water and Power Authority on December 16, 2022 to replace the St. Croix power plant and several generators at the plant on St. Thomas, Adrienne Williams-Octalien, Office of Disaster Recovery director, said during a press conference today from Government House.
Government officials received word from FEMA on Monday that the federal agency would be replacing the St. Croix power plant as well as two generating units on St. Thomas, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. said during the press conference.
“This is something that we’re really excited about because this pushes our opportunity to fix the WAPA problem in terms of reliability and affordability once and for all,” he said.
The announcement came on a day when WAPA experienced a power outage affecting the eastern portion of St. Thomas and the island of St. John, resulting in two-hour rotational outages announced for the district from 1:30 to 9:30 p.m.
FEMA will completely replace the Richmond Power Plant on St. Croix and two generating units at the Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas as part of a prudent replacement project estimated to cost between $400 million and $600 million made possible through the Bipartisan Budget Act, Williams-Octalien said. She said the initial request was to replace only two generating units in the Richmond Power Plant, noting it is more cost effective to replace the entire plant.
“We really want to thank FEMA for leaning in on the work and understanding the criticality of our power here and the need to be able to create opportunities that can build and strengthen and create the resilience for our power grid moving forward,” she said.
The ODR director discussed the benefits of replacing the Richmond Power Plant.
“An updated power plant will allow us to have interconnections to allow for more renewable energy,” she said, noting that process is not seamless now. “Some incapabilities are in existence right now that we’ll be able to address that will allow us to do more solar, more wind and allow to have a lot more renewable energy and be able to have those connections right away.”
Today’s announcement came following two emergency meetings WAPA’s board held on Friday and Tuesday that resulted in the execution of critical agreements, including the approval of a settlement agreement with Wartsila to remobilize and finalize the commissioning of the second phase of a new generation project at the Randolph Harley Power Plant.
Bryan said the agreement with Wartsila creates four new generation units on St. Thomas as well as a new battery backup for the power plant, creating consistency in the St. Thomas/St. John District. He pointed out the decision from FEMA will further improve power reliability in the territory.
“I think this is incredible news for the people of the Virgin Islands because we’re already well on the way to fixing the St. Thomas plant,” he said. “With this new addition being able to replace older units and damaged units on the island of St. Croix, it speeds us so much further ahead in terms of not only reliability, but affordability because we’ll be able to purchase way more efficient units and put those units into service.”
Senator Diane Capehart, Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning vice chair, said she was “elated” to hear the Richmond Power Plant would be replaced with assistance from FEMA.
“This is long overdue for the Virgin Islands,” she said. “I know that this power plant in Richmond has been in existence for a long period of time, and it's aged out. So, with creating new infrastructure, and getting modernized with alternative energy, I hope that's a start. So, I look forward to giving any legislative support going forward on this new initiative. This great news that the territory received today.”
Capehart said the project to replace two generators on St. Thomas will positively affect Virgin Islanders in the St. Thomas/St. John District, noting she encountered a power outage on St. Thomas today when she traveled to participate in a Senate committee meeting.
“I’m just so happy for the people of the Virgin Islands,” she said.
Bryan stressed how “critical and crucial” it is now that FEMA will be replacing the St. Croix power plant as well as two generators on St. Thomas.
“We’re building a legacy of resilience with WAPA,” he said.
The governor stressed that replacement of the power plant will take coordination between the Legislature, Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett, his administration, WAPA’s board and employees, and residents.
“There has never been a time when we have been so close to resolving the water and power issues in the Virgin Islands once and for all,” he said.
