Business

USVI Wind Energy Projects Progressing Despite Financial Risks and Federal Wind Moratorium

Technical discussions were advancing well on the wind energy projects being pursued on St. Thomas and St. Croix, said Joel Hart of Advance Power, as he provided a status update to the Public Services Commission. However, he disclosed that questions about the ability of the Water and Power Authority to pay invoices promptly and steadily are challenging the financial backers of the venture. “In the last few weeks, we've had substantial conversations regarding the interconnection study with a number of the parties,” said Mr. Hart. “Most of that was for the engineers, and mostly in a technical nature.” Now that leases are secured for both the St. Croix and St. Thomas sites, preliminary permitting work is also moving forward, he told commissioners. On the financial side, Mr. Hart noted that his company was “working with a number of underwriters, both private and public.” The U.S. Department of Energy is one of them, through a clean energy program. “They continue to encourage us to move fo...