Business View Caribbean | August 2019

41 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN AUGUST 2019 Today, WAPA produces electrical power at plants on St. Thomas and St. Croix and distributes electrical service through smart grids to customers on St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John, Hassel Island, and Water Island. The Authority is also under long-term agreements with Seven Seas Water Corporation to produce drinking water through modern seawater reverse osmosis facilities on St. Thomas and St. Croix. As a result, potable water is distributed to almost 13,000 customers through water lines and standpipes. Lawrence J. Kupfer has been CEO of the Water and Power Authority since March 1, 2018, and Business View Caribbean recently had the pleasure of hearing his first-hand insights into the post- hurricane challenges, achievements, and future goals of the Authority. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. BVC: From WAPA’s perspective, how was the USVI infrastructure impacted by the 2017 hurricanes? Kupfer: “We were struck by two Category Five hurricanes in Sept. 2017– the first, Irma, was a direct hit on the islands of St. John and St. Thomas with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour. Our power plant here in St. Thomas was not badly damaged, and we were able to start generation fairly quickly. We have underground circuits to our more critical customers, like the hospitals, airports, and some downtown areas, so those were re-energized shortly after the storm. But our transmission and distribution system on both islands was 100 percent destroyed with poles and lines down. “Then, less than two weeks later, the island of St. Croix was hit by Hurricane Maria. It was not a direct hit, and I’ve seen estimates that about 80 percent of the transmission and distribution system was damaged, but St. Croix being much larger than St. Thomas and St. John combined, there was more damage on St. Croix, in total, versus the other two islands. So, there were actually more restoration efforts on St. Croix. The power plant there, similarly, did not suffer damage and we were able to re-energize underground circuits. pictured Hurricane Maria 2017 restoration efforts V I RGIN I SLANDS WATER AND POWER AUTHOR I TY