💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA board approved Vitol settlement agreements and $45 million promissory note
Official document: https://www.viwapa.vi/docs/default-source/2023-pr/press-release---moves-ahead-with-vitol-settlement-with-governing-board-approvals-(1).pdf?sfvrsn=642ef1fb_2
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority's governing board approved two measures on April 28, 2023 tied to a settlement with Vitol, including a transition agreement and a $45 million promissory note between WAPA and the Government of the Virgin Islands.
WAPA said the $45 million advance from the government, drawn from a line of credit approved by the Legislature, was due on May 1, 2023. The authority said the payment, together with the remaining $100 million owed to Vitol, would settle WAPA's debt to the company and terminate the agreement.
According to WAPA, the transition agreement would transfer ownership of Vitol's propane infrastructure to the authority. WAPA said the added storage capacity would give the territory about two months of propane supply in the event of a disruption or waterway blockage.
On the transition agreement, board members Kyle Fleming, Juanita R. Young and Cheryl Boynes-Jackson voted yes, while Hubert A. Turnbull and Elizabeth Armstrong voted no.
On the $45 million promissory note, Fleming, Young and Boynes-Jackson voted yes, Turnbull voted no, and Armstrong did not vote.
WAPA said the settlement would end the Vitol arrangement ahead of an August 2023 deadline and allow a different approach to propane procurement based on market pricing.