Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority leadership and members of the Public Services Commission will be subpoenaed to appear before the 33rd Legislature to address what Senator Kenneth Gittens — who made the motion for the subpoena — called “serious and myriad” problems at the utility. During Tuesday’s Legislative Session, Mr. Gittens told his colleagues it was time to take a more aggressive approach when it came to WAPA. “I made a motion to convene a Committee of the Whole hearing within 45 days subpoenaing WAPA officials and the PSC to ensure their full cooperation,” Mr. Gittens said. The motion was unanimously supported. USVI residents’ angst against WAPA has risen in recent months, as the utility has been seeking to raise kilowatt per hour cost on customers. The utility also recently lost more than $2 million through what it said was a phishing scam, an incident that further deteriorated the public’s trust in the beleaguered authority. “We must get to the bottom of what is really taking place at WAPA and start working to chart a new path forward. The current state of affairs is absolutely unacceptable – our bills are outrageous and service is increasingly unreliable,” Mr. Gittens said in a release his office issued Tuesday. The senator said it’s time to explore other ways to manage WAPA to include privatization and a shift to greater reliance on alternative energy. “Our economy cannot grow without affordable and reliable electricity,” he said. “WAPA has a $1.2 billion debt and growing. We need to know how we got here and how we can address this debt.” During a meeting late July, the PSC voted 5-0 to delay action on WAPA’s rate-hike petition until October 3rd at the commission’s next scheduled meeting. Commissioners Kent Bernier, Johann Clendenin, David Hughes, Andrew Rutnick and Chairman…
Read More: Senators Subpoena WAPA And PSC
Source: VI Consortium