For the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, financial recovery is only part of the equation. True stability, CEO Karl Knight said in a recent interview with the Source, depends on rebuilding the system itself — hardening the grid, expanding renewable generation, and preparing for a future where outages are the exception, not the norm.
“The reality is, we’ve neglected maintenance for too long,” Knight said. “We’re fixing one system and another fails. It’s been a constant game of catch-up. But what we’re doing now — with these major infrastructure and renewable projects — is building for resilience.”
Across the territory, that resilience is taking shape in visible ways. WAPA’s composite pole program is nearly complete, replacing thousands of aging wooden poles with more flexible, storm-resistant ones designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. Funded largely through FEMA, the program covers areas where undergrounding isn’t possible. “The composite poles have been a real success,” Knight said. “They’re stronger, safer, and we’ve amended contracts to keep adding more wherever we can.”
Where possible, the utility is also burying lines. Projects like Feeder 13’s bypass on St. Thomas — a long-troubled underground cable route responsible for frequent outages — are about 80% complete. Once finished, Knight said, it will allow crews to take aging cables offline and replace them without affecting service. “That project will make a noticeable difference for customers,” he noted.
The utility’s most ambitious work, however, centers on generation. On St. Croix, WAPA is moving forward with a complete rebuild of the Richmond Power Plant — a project funded through FEMA that includes new generation units, upgraded substations, digital control systems, and another battery energy-storage system. Construction will take several years, but temporary generation and battery components are expected within the next 12 to 18 months to stabilize supply. “It’s a once-in-a-generation project,” Knight said. “We’re not just replacing what we had — we’re modernizing it.”
The St. Thomas–St. John district is seeing similar investment. WAPA plans to add about 40 megawatts of new generation to the Harley Power Plant, along with additional battery backup systems and temporary generation to bridge the transition. Knight said the project, now in design, will take roughly three years to complete.
At the same time, WAPA is expanding renewable capacity through two large solar farms on St. Thomas — one at Estate Fortuna and another at Estate Bovoni — both developed through private partnerships. Each site will include battery storage, enabling WAPA to shift daytime solar power into the evening hours. “The solar at Fortuna should start generating by mid-2026,” Knight said, “with Bovoni coming online shortly after.” Together, they are expected to provide enough daytime generation to power St. Thomas and St. John while allowing the utility to idle older, inefficient gas turbines.
Renewable efforts extend beyond the main islands. On St. John, WAPA is developing a battery-energy-storage project in Coral Bay — the foundation of a planned microgrid that could allow portions of the island to operate independently from St. Thomas during outages. “It’s about energy independence and reliability,” Knight said. “If we can isolate portions of St. John, we can keep the lights on even when the main grid is down.”
The investments are massive. WAPA estimates that federal funding across all water and power projects totals several billion dollars, including roughly a billion each for St. Thomas and St. Croix waterline and underground work. But those funds are restricted — they can only be used for capital improvements, not operating costs. Knight acknowledged that supply-chain delays, labor shortages, and rising costs for equipment such as transformers continue to test schedules and budgets. “It’s not easy,” he said. “We’re building at a time when everything — materials, freight, labor — costs more. But the alternative is to keep patching the old system, and that’s not sustainable.”
Despite those obstacles, many of the authority’s short-term projects are nearing completion. Underground upgrades at Blackbeard’s Hill, Mahogany Estate, and other neighborhoods are wrapping up by year’s end, and WAPA expects the Feeder 13 bypass to be energized before December.
What these efforts represent, Knight said, is a philosophical shift. “We’re not just reacting to problems anymore — we’re designing the grid we should have had twenty years ago,” he explained. “Every project we complete, from a single composite pole to an entire solar field, brings us closer to that goal.”
Still, Knight remains realistic about public expectations. Power interruptions will continue in the near term, especially as older units fail and new systems come online. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “But every investment we’re making now — in generation, storage, and infrastructure — is a step toward a stronger, more reliable, and more affordable WAPA.”
St. Croix Source
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