SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands experienced a total blackout early Sunday morning, marking the second occurrence of widespread outages during the weekend. This incident highlights the ongoing struggles faced by the U.S. territory regarding increasingly frequent power interruptions.
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) released a statement indicating that the outages were caused by the loss of generation at a local power plant. The first blackout took place late on Saturday night, and although power was restored overnight, residents faced another blackout just hours later.
St. Thomas is home to over 42,000 residents, while St. John has nearly 4,000 inhabitants. The frequent outages have led to growing frustration among the population, with many turning to social media to voice their concerns and demand a more reliable electricity service from the government.
Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has committed to addressing the power supply issues, with an investment of approximately $100 million in federal funds aimed at revitalizing the struggling utility. However, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority continues to grapple with maintaining reliable service. In April 2023, agency officials informed legislators that the outages were attributed to various factors, including storms, equipment shortages, aging equipment, breakdowns, and years of deferred maintenance.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, over half of the U.S. territory's petroleum-fueled power generation units are more than 25 years old. The impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017 compounded the issue, causing damage or destruction to up to 90% of the U.S. Virgin Islands' transmission and distribution systems.
To help mitigate the frequency of outages, WAPA has indicated that it anticipates installing temporary generation sources and additional battery energy storage at one of its main power plants in the coming months. Presently, renewable energy sources account for only about 3% of the power generating capacity in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The average electricity price in 2024 is projected to be around 33 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is nearly double the U.S. average of 16 cents per kilowatt-hour, as reported by the U.S. energy agency. Residents continue to hope for improvements as the utility works to enhance the reliability of its services.
