32 January 2016 - Business View Caribbean
high electricity costs due to its traditional dependence
on fuel oil for power generation, as well as to help
minimize the impact of global warming from fossil fuel
combustion. “We have two, four mega-watt solar farms
online right now,” says Hodge, “and two, three mega-
watt solar farms being built. We’ve got a seven and a
half mega-watt Biofuel plant on St. Croix being built,
and we’re negotiating for seven to ten mega-watts of
wind power on St. Thomas.”
Hodge also says that 15 mega-watts of electricty - ap-
proximately 13 percent of WAPA’s peak generation of
115 mega-watts - are generated through its net me-
tering program via individual rooftop
solar installations. (Net metering
is a billing mechanism that credits
solar energy system owners for the
electricity they add to the grid. For
example, if a residential customer
has a PV ((photo voltaic)) system on
the home’s rooftop, it may generate
more electricity than the home uses
during daylight hours. If the home
is net-metered, the electricity meter
will run backwards to provide a credit
against what electricity is consumed
at night or other periods where the
home’s electricity use exceeds the
system’s output. Thus, customers are
only billed for their “net” energy use.)
Finally, Hodge says that WAPA is also
doing a full conversion of its systems
to AMI metering. AMI (Advanced Me-
tering Infrastructure) is an integrated
system of smart meters, communi-
cations networks, and data manage-
ment systems that enables two-way
communication between utilities and
