USVI Water & Power Authority

Business View Caribbean 9 fossil fuel usage in the electricity and transportation sectors by 60 percent by 2025. Lastly, Hodge also talks about WAPA’s water system and plans for its improvement: “The water is all de- salinized,” he says. “We recently converted all our de- salinization plants from thermal to reverse osmosis, so the next big thing for the water system is an upgrade of all of the transmission and distribution pipes. The lines are 70, 80 years old. Some of them have some rust; or the lining is gone. That will be a big, multi-year project - somewhere between $300 and $800 million, territory-wide.” Hodge believes that the system up- grade will improve water quality and virtually pay for itself by reducing water loss and the need to flush the system so frequently. Earlier this year, WAPA’s accomplishments were rec- ognized and lauded by Vice President Joe Biden in a