The V.I. Water and Power Authority is warning that rotating power outages could return to the St. Thomas–St. John district as three critical backup generating units remain offline, with repairs to one now expected in January 2027, another not until late next year, and a third having no established completion date.
Shanell Spencer, WAPA's director of corporate communications, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Veterans Affairs, and Consumer Protection on Monday that the utility is working to restore Units 15 and 23 and Wärtsilä 5 at the Randolph Harley Power Plant. Until additional backup generation becomes available, failures involving operating equipment could again force WAPA to implement rotating outages.
Units 15 and 23 are part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's prudent replacement program being led by the Office of Disaster Recovery.
According to Ms. Spencer, repairs to Unit 15 were initially scheduled for completion in September 2026, but contractor RG Engineering is still working to “source the needed part to complete the repairs.” WAPA now anticipates the unit returning to service in January 2027.
Unit 23 faces an even longer delay. Ms. Spencer said the generator requires a new gearbox, with repairs currently projected for the final quarter of 2027. Procuring a new replacement could push completion into 2028.
Meanwhile, there is “no timeline on when Wärtsilä 5 will be completed,” she told lawmakers.
“Once any of these units come online, we will have that additional backup generation that's needed,” Ms. Spencer said.
Equipment Failures Triggered Weekend Outages
The shortage of backup generation contributed to widespread power interruptions in the St. Thomas–St. John district beginning Thursday, October 15.
According to Ms. Spencer, an “unexpected failure” caused the Wärtsilä Phase 2 units at the Randolph Harley plant to switch from automatic to manual operation. With insufficient reserve generation available, WAPA implemented rotating outages to balance electricity supply with demand.
On Friday, Unit 27 experienced a separate mechanical problem, further reducing available generation. Ms. Spencer described the failure as “coincidentally and unrelated” to the earlier Wärtsilä malfunction.
Following repairs to Unit 27, WAPA suspended the rotations. The authority confirmed that generation-related rotating outages ended Saturday at approximately 2:55 p.m.
Ms. Spencer also rejected suggestions that fuel shortages had contributed to the outages, assuring lawmakers that WAPA had sufficient fuel supplies.
Despite the restoration of service, the district remains vulnerable to additional interruptions until backup capacity is restored.
St. John Standby Generators Targeted for January 2027
WAPA is also pursuing several projects intended to improve electricity reliability on St. John, including the installation of four standby generators scheduled for January 2027.
The generators, which arrived in the territory in August, are designed to provide a combined 10 megawatts of backup power. A Coastal Zone Management meeting concerning the project is scheduled for October 29.
Ms. Spencer also outlined plans for the Great Bay circuit project, now scheduled for April 2027. She said the project will “add backup capability to the submarine transmission line from St. Thomas to St. John.”
WAPA has received one bid for the project and is awaiting another.
Additional infrastructure improvements include undergrounding Feeder 9E, currently planned for the third quarter of 2028, and the ongoing installation of composite utility poles.
Lawmakers Question Delayed Outage Notifications
Beyond the generation failures, lawmakers expressed frustration with WAPA's communication during the weekend disruptions, saying residents were left without timely information about when electricity would be interrupted or restored.
Ms. Spencer acknowledged that the authority experienced “communication challenges” that delayed updates to customers.
She explained that social media is not WAPA's primary means of communicating outages. Instead, the utility relies first on text-message notifications sent directly to registered customers.
Although WAPA's internal team has addressed the technical problem responsible for the delays, Ms. Spencer acknowledged that the authority could not guarantee that the problem would not recur.
Senator Carla Joseph criticized the lack of timely information, saying St. Thomas residents were “literally in the dark relative to the time frame of when the system was going to go down, and even when it was going to come up.”
Ms. Joseph and other lawmakers urged WAPA to improve the speed and reliability of its public notifications, particularly during outages affecting large portions of the district.
