Business View Caribbean | August 2019

49 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN AUGUST 2019 V I RGIN I SLANDS WATER AND POWER AUTHOR I TY pictured Line crew personnel celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness pictured Water distribution “We hope that in three years we can have all our plants converted to smaller reciprocating engines. And we’d like as much as 50 megawatts of solar with batteries on the grid, meaning lower energy costs and FEMA would pay for any repairs if a federal disaster is declared. Most of the mitigation projects should be completed in five years; having lines for the main commercial centers underground will allow businesses to recover fairly quickly after a storm and get the economy going again. “Safety of our employees is essential. We recently started a training program with the Electric Cities of Georgia for all our linemen. We’re proud that our line departments in St. Thomas and St. Croix have worked for over a year without any injuries. We have very dedicated and hard-working employees; some whose homes were destroyed showed up to work the next day. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get power restored so people can get their lives back in order. We think we’re prepared for upcoming hurricane seasons and we always hope for the best, but plan for the worst.”