Epic Curacao, ship carrying first delivery of propane fuel to WAPA, arrived at the semi-autonomous entity’s Christiansted dock on Wed. Oct. 21, 2015. Photo Credit: WAPA
Should lawmakers cooperate with Governor Albert Bryan Jr. in approving his request to establish a $150 million line of credit for the territory, $45 million of that amount will go to Vitol within the next 45 days as part payment towards the debt owed to the propane supplier by the Water and Power Authority.
Contention over that debt led to Vitol eventually suspending propane shipments to the territory late last year, leaving WAPA to scramble weeks before the 2022 holiday season to find alternative suppliers of the needed fuel.
During the most recent meeting of WAPA’s Governing Board, Executive Director Andrew Smith announced that WAPA and Vitol had finally reached an agreement over the buyout of the Vitol-built propane infrastructure that is critical to WAPA’s current operations. The total sums involved were not disclosed in the open session of that meeting, and the public still does not know even the broad strokes outline of what was agreed.
Tuesday’s announcement from the Governor called the details of the buyout agreement “confidential”.
The Senate will meet in special session at 10 am today Wednesday to discuss the Governor’s request for the credit facility. Governor Bryan said that apart from supporting WAPA in its quest to finally own its propane infrastructure, the line of credit would be used to facilitate local matching requirements for federal grant funding awards, and to support the general business operations of the Government of the Virgin Islands.
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