As peak hurricane season approaches, representatives of the Water and Power Authority told the Virgin Islands Public Services Commission they were well short in many key hurricane preparedness categories Wednesday.
Optimally, WAPA would have a 12-day supply of liquified petroleum gas and diesel on hand. It had between 95 and 72 percent of what was needed, utility representatives said. Where they were truly short was in spare parts and funding, said WAPA Incident Commander Don Gregoire.
The utility had just 15 percent of the equipment needed for power generation that it would want, five percent of the money it would need if a major storm struck, and only two percent of the transmission and distribution equipment it would want on hand.
While it had 59 percent of optimal water storage to weather a hurricane, it was important to have the tanks full during windstorms as they are better able to withstand the force of hurricane winds, he said.
Members of the Public Services Commission asked how ready WAPA was for a Category 4 hurricane on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the best. Gregoire said the utility providing water and power was about a four.
WAPA’s interim CEO and CFO both described dire financial straights at the utility.
Elsewhere in the commission meeting, they heard from Liberty Mobile V.I. that the company had prioritized service on St. John during its carnival to aid first responders. Liberty was still considering a St. John office but could not prove to its parent company that a brick-and-mortar site made financial sense.
Ferry service between Charlotte Amalie and Cruz Bay was also on the agenda as it unexpectedly halted at the end of the tourist season.
Representatives of Varlack Ventures and Transportation Services — the two entities with franchises to ferry passengers between St. Thomas and St. John — explained that the route was not a money-maker off-season. Transportation Services had also had several of their vessels offline, either for scheduled drydock or still undergoing hurricane damage repairs, so Varlack had to run the route alone. Delrise Varlack said she was of the opinion the route could be seasonally suspended without issue and that a third ferry provider operating outside government oversight was using the route. Members of the PSC differed that Varlack could suspend the route. No clear resolution was reached.
V.I. Electron reported its 10-megawatt St. Croix Petronella solar project should be completed in September and the Estate Hogansborg site completed before the end of the year. It also proposed a third project near Frederiksted.
