Wapa

St. Croix Chamber of Commerce Comes out in Opposition to WAPA Rate Increase on Eve of PSC Decision

The Board of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday said it continues to take the position that the private sector cannot be relied upon to bail out WAPA due to the authority’s and the Government of the Virgin Islands’ mismanagement, and once again said it opposes WAPA's request for a base rate increase. On Thursday, the Public Services Commission will decide whether to grant WAPA the rate increase that it's been requesting since the early months of 2019. The chamber said WAPA has experienced decades of mismanagement that have resulted in a debt load of approximately $550 million, according to testimony by Executive Director Lawrence Kupfer to the 33rd Legislature on October 1, 2016. As a result, WAPA has requested an increase in the base rate of $0.03/kWh to be offset by a decrease in the LEAC of the same amount (effectively the end of the 6-month $0.03/kWh emergency LEAC increase) for what WAPA proposes is a net neutral rate change. "While Governor Bryan has come out in fa...