ST. JOHN, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS (February 7, 2026) – The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“WAPA” or “the Authority”) shares a restoration update with the St. John community following the island-wide electrical outage affecting feeders 7E and 9E.

As of 6:25 p.m., electrical service has been fully restored to all customers on St. John.

The outage began late Friday, February 6, 2026, when the transmission line supplying St. John tripped, resulting in service interruptions across the island. WAPA crews mobilized immediately and worked through the night conducting a comprehensive, step-by-step assessment of the transmission and distribution system.

During troubleshooting, crews identified multiple points of failure, including faults on the switchgear,  transmission breaker, and distribution feeder, as well as equipment damage within the substation. Testing confirmed that the submarine cable is not the source of the outage. Further testing also confirmed that the isolated terrestrial infrastructure between the submarine cable landing site and the St. John substation was not the source of the outage.

To expedite restoration and minimize customer impact, temporary repairs were implemented, allowing service to be safely returned to affected customers in the shortest time possible. While service has been fully restored, additional work will take place once replacement parts arrive on island. To complete these improvements safely, WAPA expects to schedule short, planned outages in the coming weeks. Customers will be notified in advance, and every effort will be made to minimize any inconvenience.

WAPA understands the disruption outages cause to daily life and business operations and sincerely thanks the St. John community for its cooperation and support. WAPA also thanks its crews for their continued dedication and around-the-clock efforts to restore service.

To receive WAPA alerts directly to your mobile device via text, voice and/or email, sign up for WAPA Alerts at https://member.everbridge.net/892807736728730/new or download the Everbridge app.

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