Bryan administration and WAPA said $90 million in disaster-recovery funds would support four new generators and grid upgrades

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, the Office of Disaster Recovery and the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority said on Aug. 26, 2019, that $90 million in federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding had been authorized for WAPA infrastructure improvements, including the acquisition of four new generating units for the St. Thomas-St. John district.

At a joint press conference, WAPA Executive Director Lawrence Kupfer said the authority was issuing a request for proposals for four smaller generators expected to add 36 to 40 megawatts of capacity in the St. Thomas-St. John district. He also said two emergency generators were being installed on St. John, one for Cruz Bay and one for Coral Bay, and that solar arrays were planned in both districts.

Officials said the $90 million would be used for projects including hardening WAPA's transmission and distribution system, undergrounding some overhead lines, installing composite poles where underground service was not feasible, and hardening substations.

V.I. Housing Finance Authority Executive Director Daryl Griffith said the territory had access to $240 million in HUD disaster-recovery grant funding and was expecting an additional $779 million within weeks.

Bryan said the government had paid its outstanding debt to WAPA and that executive branch agencies were current on their utility bills. He said payments made in July 2019 included $11.7 million for Juan F. Luis Hospital, $10.5 million for Schneider Regional Medical Center and $700,000 for the V.I. Waste Management Authority.

Officials said WAPA's broader plan also included up to 30 megawatts of utility-scale solar generation with battery storage and efficiency upgrades at the power plants on St. Thomas and St. Croix. Kupfer said the new generators were expected to be online by the end of 2020.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-wapa-announce-funds-to-acquire-four-new-generators/