U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS – The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“WAPA” or “Authority”) would like to notify the public that the Geographic Information Systems Inventory project for the Electric Transmission and Distribution division is underway, as crews near completion on St. John and begin assessments on St. Croix this week. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will aid in disaster recovery, accelerate response time to system problems, asset tracking, load monitoring, and system analysis, to name a few across the territory. The GIS will also aid with responsiveness for trouble calls where locating customers or tracing potential faults may be challenging.

Technicians from Davey Resource Group., a subcontractor for the project and a national leader in gathering accurate field data for utilities, will be visiting all VI WAPA Transmission and Distribution assets including WAPA’s poles, meters, and padmount equipment. On St. John, contractors are in the final stages of assessments for overhead construction and the underground manhole assessment which are expected to be completed the week August 12. On St. Croix, contractors have begun overhead assessments of Feeders 1A, 2A, and 3A. St. Croix Manhole assessments will begin the week of Aug 14. and are expected to complete all assessments on the island by the middle of December 2023.

Community members should note the Davey Resource Group technicians will be using video cameras and other devices during the field inventory, and can be identified by their WAPA Contractor ID badges, safety vests, and a Letter of Authority (available upon request). At no time shall a contractor request to enter any residential home or commercial space. All residents, business owners, and local authorities are asked to provide full cooperation during the inventory project.

Any questions concerning the project may be directed to Ambi Blyden on St. Thomas, Interim Planning and Design Manager, at ambi.blyden@viwapa.vi or 774-3552 extension 2270 and Marquis McGregor in St. Croix, Electrical Engineer III, at marquis.mcgregor@viwapa.vi, extension 3033. More information on the GIS inventory process can also be found at https://youtu.be/3aSNtMzMxyk. Please see traffic plans below for relevant road work occurring, as part of the manhole inspection process on St. John.