Business

Anger Rising: Residents Set To Protest Outside PSC Building As It Considers WAPA Base Rate Increase

ST. THOMAS -- Today, Virgin Islanders will learn whether their overwhelming stance that the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority should not be given a base rate increase will be respected by the Public Services Commission, which will hold a meeting today in its office at the Barbel Plaza here to decide on whether to give WAPA the authority to charge consumers yet another 3 cents, bringing Virgin Islanders' cost per kilowatt hour to an unimaginable 46 cents per kilowatt hour. While PSC will be discussing the increase, residents from all walks of life will gather outside the Barbel Plaza at 10:00 a.m. to protest it. A newly formed group, called the Virgin Islands Alliance for Consumer Justice, organized the event that has since mushroomed to include Virgin Islanders who are simply fed up with the constant increases while WAPA's service has not improved. "Our presence at the PSC is extremely important for commissioners to understand how serious we are taking this matter," sa...