WAPA Board nominee Lynton Scotland. Photo Credit: V.I. LEGISLATURE.
The Senate Committee on Rules and Judiciary approved Lynton Scotland’s nomination to the Water and Power Authority’s governing board on Friday after he pledged to apply his experience in engineering, procurement and supply-chain management to WAPA’s reliability and operational challenges.
Mr. Scotland acknowledged the authority’s financial constraints, damaged public confidence and continuing concerns over reliability, affordability and customer service. He emphasized the importance of maintaining spare parts and equipment, developing stronger relationships with suppliers and ensuring that strategies are carried through.
After moving to St. Croix as a teenager, Mr. Scotland began his career as a chemical engineer with Martin Mariette Alumina on the island.
He told lawmakers that he later held “senior leadership positions spanning engineering, sales and marketing, procurement, and supply chain management with Fortune 500 companies.”
His experience includes a recent position as chief supply chain and procurement officer at Con Edison in New York, which he described as “one of the nation’s most reliable utility companies.”
Mr. Scotland also worked at NRG Energy, “one of the largest independent power producers and a Fortune 500 company,” he said.
The nominee told lawmakers that his professional background could “provide a valuable perspective as WAPA continues its efforts to strengthen reliability.”
He said, however, that he did not approach the position “with any illusions about the challenges ahead.”
Mr. Scotland acknowledged that “residents and businesses across the territory have expressed real and understandable concerns about reliability, affordability, and customer service.”
Recognizing that “effective oversight begins with listening and learning”, he pledged to engage with WAPA employees, customers, regulators and fellow board members to “better understand their perspectives and the challenges facing the Authority.”
During an exchange with Senator Angel Bolques Jr., Mr. Scotland discussed the need for a “strategy” to ensure that spare parts and equipment are consistently available.
He spoke about developing “key relationships” with vendors and ensuring that facilities have the supplies needed to operate.
“You have to do everything that is within your limits to make sure that you have what is necessary to run the facilities,” Mr. Scotland said.
Mr. Bolques cautioned that WAPA’s limited financial resources could complicate those efforts.
“Fiscal resources is challenged in relation to supply chain demand…so I hope that you can bring some innovative ideas to the board,” the senator told him.
Speaking with Senator Clifford Joseph, Mr. Scotland stressed that “strategic relationship management with suppliers” would be essential.
“In times of crisis, you're going to need that in order to be able to get to where you want to get to,” he stated.
Mr. Scotland also emphasized the importance of developing sound strategies, but said their success would ultimately depend on implementation.
“A lot of the times, things fall apart because we don't always execute,” he told Senator Alma Francis Heyliger.
The nominee told Senator Kenneth Gittens that he was aware of the many problems confronting WAPA. Mr. Gittens questioned him about performance standards and accountability among members of the governing board.
The senator also warned that “public confidence has been really severely damaged with the authority, so you have a big task ahead of you.”
He asked whether Mr. Scotland was prepared to take on the challenge.
“For me, it's an opportunity to support and help and give back. And I know I have the skill sets that's necessary to help. I have a lot of learning to do, but I also have a lot of teaching to do,” Mr. Scotland responded.
Now retired, Mr. Scotland told lawmakers that he has the time to contribute meaningfully to the authority’s governing board.
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