💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA extended installment plan for 60-day March bills to all customers
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said on March 17, 2020, that it had extended an installment payment plan for March utility bills covering about 60 days of service to all customers and no longer required customers to visit its offices to enroll.
Under the plan, customers who paid half of their March bill by the due date were automatically enrolled to pay the remaining balance in equal installments in April, May and June, along with their regular monthly bills.
WAPA said customers who did not make the initial half payment by the March due date were subject to disconnection and would have to pay the delinquent amount and a reconnection fee to restore service. Customers who failed to pay their regular bills and installment amounts in April, May and June also faced disconnection.
The authority said customers enrolled in Autopay had to arrange an installment plan with a customer service representative before the bill due date or the full March bill would be debited automatically.
WAPA said the 60-day bill was issued to recover lost billing days and cycles and to collect about $23 million in previously unbilled revenue. It also said the automatic enrollment process was intended to reduce the number of customers visiting customer service offices, which had been operating with limited service territorywide since March 16, 2020, as the authority encouraged online and telephone transactions during the coronavirus outbreak.