‘If You Have A Problem, Call Our Complaint Line’

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) refuses to say what percentage of each island in the territory has been connected to electricity as of 2018.

WAPA would only say that “the restoration effort continued across the territory throughout the weekend with approximately 1,150 customers restored.”

In fact, when the V.I. Free Press went looking for WAPA we found them on the South Shore today connecting utility poles in an area of St. Croix where no houses are visible.

INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN: There are no houses visible where the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) was busy re-connecting utility poles to electricity on Tuesday. Today WAPA was on St. Croix’s South Shore.

The additional customers to be returned to power are in the following areas:

St. Croix: Cane Bay, Clairmont, Carlton, Cane Carlton, Concordia, La Vallee, Mon Bijou, Mountain, North Star, Tulipan Welcome, Two Brothers, Two Williams, Vista Concordia and Whim. The Figtree sewage pump station was also re-energized over the weekend.
St. Thomas: Anna’s Retreat, Frenchman Bay, Frydendahl, Frydenhoj, Nazareth, Peterborg, Scott Free, Smith Bay, St. Joseph & Rosendahl and Subbase.

Residents are reminded of the need to shut off standby generators when line crews are in your neighborhood restoring electrical service. A standby generator has the potential to back feed electricity to the grid which poses a severe safety risk to restoration crews.
Crews will continue restoration work in the following locations during the first week of the new year:
- On St. Croix: Anna’s Hope, Barren Spot, Belvedere, Betsy’s Jewel, Brooks Hill, Cane Bay, Carlton, Castle Coakley, Castle Nugent, Concordia, Cotton Grove, Diamond, Glynn, Granard, Grange Garden, Great Pond, Herbert Grigg, Hibiscus Point, Hogensborg, Howard Wall Camp, Jolly Hill, Kingshill, La Vallee, Little Fountain, Little La Grange, Longford, Lower Love, Mon Bijou, Morningstar, Mountain, Mount Pellier, Mount Pleasant, North Shore Road, Orange Grove, Paradise, Peter’s Rest, Petronella, Plessen, Prosperity, Reflection Bay, River, Sally’s Fancy, Springfield, St. John, Tipperary, Two Brothers, Two Williams, Union Mount Washington, Whim and William’s Delight.
- On St. John: Calabash Boom, Carolina, Chicago Hill/Ben Runnel’s Gut, East End Road, Grunwald, Mamey Peak, National Park Southeast, Stonehouse on Upper Carolina and Upper Carolina at Cereus Court.
- On St. Thomas: Anna’s Retreat, Bolongo, Frenchman’s Bay, Lytton’s Fancy, Mandahl, Tabor & Harmony, Tutu, Tutu Hi Rise 1 and Wintberg.
A No Customer Left Behind campaign has been launched and is aimed at reconnecting all customers who can be restored to the electric grid, and who may have been bypassed during the first phase of service restoration. This initiative is at the present time only for customers on St. John. Similar campaigns will be launched for St. Thomas and St. Croix as we get closer to the end of restoration on those islands. A No Customer Left Behind telephone hotline number, 340-715-8020, has been established for St. John customers to call. The customer’s information will be collected by a WAPA employee on St. John, and will then be channeled to the appropriate divisions so restoration can be scheduled. The goal is once a customer makes contact with the No Customer Left Behind hotline, assuming all documentation is in order, that customer will be restored within 72 hours.
Restoration and hurricane debris removal crews are staged across the islands. Motorists are asked to exercise caution when driving through the work areas and to heed the directions of flaggers and VIPD officers who are assisting with traffic control.

POTABLE WATER SYSTEM

There are seven days of emergency water storage on St. John, nine days on St. Thomas, and four days on St. Croix.

OTHER INFORMATION

WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-3552; St. Croix district, 340-773-2250.
Customer Service Offices operate Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix, at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas and at The Marketplace on St. John 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
The latest information on the restoration effort is available on this website and on Facebook: Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority.
We continue to Recover, Rebuild and Restore. WAPA… Working for You!!