ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority put St. Croix on a rotating outage schedule Wednesday after the loss of a generating unit caused an islandwide blackout, leaving the utility short of power until crews can bring more units back online.
This marks the third island-wide outage on the Big Island within the last five days while sister islands St. Thomas and St. John continue to be subjected to regular rotational power from the Authority.
WAPA spokesperson Shanell Spencer said crews began repairs on the unit that failed and found while bringing another unit online that it also needed repairs.
“And so right now, we are short on generation, hence a rotation outage schedule is currently in effect that is anticipated to last through 9 p.m.,” Spencer said.
Under the schedule, some customers will have power while others do not at any given time.
Spencer said the utility expected the additional unit to come online Wednesday afternoon but set the schedule through the evening in case the repairs take longer than expected. The reduced generating capacity will continue until one of the units is back in service, she said.
While plant personnel work on the units, Spencer said WAPA is drawing on power from its solar farms to restore more customers. She asked customers to conserve electricity during the shortfall.
“With conservation, essentially, that means we’ll be able to bring online and keep more customers with power considering the current shortfall,” she said.
WAPA is sending outage updates by text, email, and voice through its WAPA Alerts system. Spencer said customers can sign up at viwapa.vi, using the link in the top right corner of the website, or download the Everbridge app to receive updates on their phones.
