St. Thomas-St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands (July 14, 2026) — The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“WAPA” or “the Authority”) acknowledges the frustration, disruption, and uncertainty customers experienced this morning following an already difficult overnight planned outage. We sincerely apologize to every customer whose day began without power after expecting service to be restored.
The overnight outage from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. was necessary to complete a critical phase of the Feeder 13 Bypass Project. The work was completed with minimal delays and will continue tonight from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. to complete the interconnection. Once finished, the Feeder 13 Bypass will provide a backup power path to the eastern end of St. Thomas and St. John, reducing the risk of prolonged outages if the aged underground transmission line is damaged in the future.
Unexpectedly, as crews were restoring service at approximately 7:45 a.m., two generating units at the Randolph Harley Power Plant went offline, causing a districtwide outage.
The timing of the generating unit trips also created confusion regarding the rotational outage schedule that had been issued earlier this morning. That schedule was never implemented due to the unexpected districtwide outage that occurred, as crews focused on restoring generation. If necessary, rotational outages will resume once sufficient generation is restored and based on available fuel supply.
WAPA’s fuel supplier has experienced transportation delays that have temporarily limited diesel deliveries. However, there is encouraging news. WAPA has secured an earlier maritime fuel delivery from Puerto Rico, pending vessel arrival. This delivery will help stabilize fuel inventories while additional scheduled deliveries continue.
WAPA will continue providing updates as generation is restored, rotational outages resume if necessary, and additional fuel arrives. We appreciate our customers for their continued patience as crews work to restore reliable service and strengthen the resilience of the electric system.
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