💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA sought to keep LEAC rate at 43 cents for July-December 2020
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said on April 8, 2020, that it had asked the Public Services Commission to keep the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause rate unchanged at 43 cents per kilowatt-hour for the July through December 2020 period.
WAPA said the request was filed on April 1, 2020, citing uncertainty tied to the Covid-19 outbreak in the Virgin Islands and volatility in global commodity prices. The authority also said peak load had fallen by about 6% to 8%.
The filing came after public calls, including from Sen. Alicia Barnes, for a lower LEAC rate following declines in global oil prices.
WAPA Executive Director Lawrence J. Kupfer said in a letter dated April 8, 2020, that the new LEAC period was about three months away and that the utility could not predict conditions in July 2020 or commodity prices during the six-month period through the end of the year. He said WAPA and the commission would be in a better position to assess conditions when the PSC held hearings on the filing in June 2020.