The V.I. Water and Power Authority announced Thursday that rotating outages would begin that afternoon in St. Thomas and St. John to provide relief to customers experiencing extended interruptions, as crews continued troubleshooting generating units that remained offline. The authority’s 2 p.m. notice did not include a rotation schedule and said another update would follow once it was available.
The continuing disruptions prompted Senate Vice President Kenneth Gittens to call for consideration of selling WAPA’s generation assets to a qualified private operator while keeping the distribution network under government control. In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Gittens said he had facilitated contact between WAPA’s leadership and an engineering company interested in exploring investment opportunities, although he cautioned that his knowledge of the discussions was limited.
“We cannot continue doing the same thing and expect a different result. We must be willing to consider bold, practical solutions, including selling WAPA’s generation assets to a qualified private operator,” Gittens said.
WAPA’s rotation announcement followed a districtwide blackout Wednesday evening, partial restoration that night and another all-customer outage notice early Thursday. Although service returned to several feeders during the morning, the authority continued reporting limited generation and had provided no estimated restoration time for customers still without power.
The disruptions also affected schools Thursday. The V.I. Department of Education closed eight school sites in the St. Thomas–St. John District after initially announcing a delayed opening, citing continued grid instability and the safety of students and employees.
Gittens said prolonged outages were costing students instructional time, disrupting businesses and forcing households to spend more on generator fuel and replace spoiled food. “This is no longer simply a utility problem; it is an economic crisis affecting the quality of life of every Virgin Islander. Families are struggling, businesses are losing money, and our people deserve reliable electricity at a cost they can afford,” he said.
Under the approach Gittens advocated, a private operator would assume responsibility for generation, subject to financial, operational, environmental and performance requirements. The government would retain the distribution infrastructure, with consumer protections provided through oversight and regulation.
Gittens said the engineering company, which he did not identify, had expressed interest in exploring opportunities involving both the former St. Croix refinery and WAPA, including possible acquisition of the utility’s generation assets. According to his statement, the company’s technologies involve solar thermal and photovoltaic power, energy storage and other generation options.
Based on information shared with him, Gittens said the company had informally proposed paying for an initial substation demonstration, with no upfront cost to WAPA, before any broader deployment was considered. He acknowledged that he could not speak definitively about the status of the discussions, and his statement did not announce an agreement or an approved project.
“I have done my part to open the door to a potential opportunity, but opportunities must be met with meaningful engagement. To my knowledge, the response has not been sufficient to advance these discussions,” Gittens said. He urged WAPA’s leadership and the government to give credible proposals serious consideration.
In a separate statement issued earlier Thursday afternoon, WAPA outlined equipment problems dating to October 15, including a recurring control-system malfunction on GE Unit 27 and mechanical problems requiring more extensive repairs to Wärtsilä 7. The authority said the failures had complicated efforts to maintain sufficient generation and restore service after interruptions.
The first problem developed last Thursday, when a defective component caused repeated trips as a generating unit was restarted in automatic mode, affecting other units. Operators identified manual operation as a temporary workaround while the component is replaced, although WAPA did not identify that unit in its statement.
GE Unit 27 experienced a separate control-system malfunction on Friday, October 16, and returned to service after work on Saturday. A malfunctioning gas detector later triggered an alarm and shut down the unit; when operators attempted to restart it, the earlier control-system problem recurred. WAPA said technicians were still verifying the suspected source before confirming the corrective work needed.
Wärtsilä 7’s mechanical problems also contributed to the generation shortfall, with no completion date provided for the more extensive repairs. WAPA Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Karl Knight explained that restoring the plant after a districtwide outage becomes more difficult when larger generating units are unavailable, and circuits initially brought back online can lose power again if the system becomes unstable.
“The crews have been working through these issues since Thursday, including returning to the plant after hours and working overnight,” Knight said. “We are bringing additional personnel from St. Croix to support the team as this work continues.”
Longer-term work includes repairs to Unit 15, preparation of additional generating units and installation of new generation capacity for St. John. WAPA said those projects were advancing but would not resolve the immediate equipment problems, which remained the operations team’s focus.
