St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands experienced a total blackout early Sunday. This marks the second outage in the same weekend. The U.S. territory is grappling with frequent electrical disruptions.
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority reported the outages were due to a loss of power generation at a plant. The initial blackout occurred late Saturday. Although crews managed to restore power, another blackout followed shortly after.
St. Thomas, home to over 42,000 residents, and St. John, with nearly 4,000 people, are the main islands affected. Residents expressed their frustration online, appealing to the government for action.
Governor Albert Bryan Jr. has committed to addressing these issues. He has invested approximately $100 million in federal funds into the utility over recent years. Despite this, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority continues to face challenges.
Officials attribute the outages to multiple factors. These include storms, equipment shortages, and weak generation capacity. There is also equipment failure and years of neglected maintenance. The U.S. Energy Information Administration states that over half of the territory’s petroleum-fueled units are over 25 years old. Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 severely damaged the power systems, affecting up to 90% of infrastructure.
The utility company plans to install temporary generation and additional battery storage. This will occur at a main power plant within upcoming months to mitigate outages.
Renewable energy accounts for a mere 3% of the power generating capacity. In 2024, the average price for electricity stood at 33 cents per kilowatt hour. This is double the U.S. average of 16 cents, based on data from the U.S. energy agency.
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