U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS (June 1, 2026) – The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“WAPA” or “the Authority”) today provided an operational update during a 10:30 a.m. press briefing delivered by Executive Director and CEO Karl Knight, which was livestreamed on Facebook and is available on YouTube.
As communicated during the briefing, the disturbance began Saturday, May 30 at approximately 6:18 PM, when Unit 27 at the Randolph Harley Power Plant tripped offline due to a fuel valve position error. The loss of the unit contributed to instability across the generation fleet and ultimately resulted in widespread service interruptions throughout the St. Thomas-St. John district.
The Executive Director acknowledged the impact on customers and the challenges experienced throughout the weekend. “We recognize that, as with most weekends, there were many activities and functions that were interrupted by outages,” stated CEO Knight, noting the Authority’s efforts to maintain service for as long as system conditions allowed.
At the start of the incident on Saturday, Unit 27 and six Wärtsilä units were in service or available for dispatch. WAPA noted that Unit 27 had been operating under strain following a prior unit failure. As crews worked to stabilize the system using available generation resources, additional operational challenges emerged that further complicated restoration efforts.
“The plant remains unstable,” Knight stated, underscoring that repeated restart attempts have resulted in additional trips and delays in restoration. As a precaution, feeders were temporarily held offline this morning to allow generation to stabilize before customer reconnection resumes.
Earlier this morning at approximately 4:00 a.m., a districtwide outage triggered protective emergency shutdown alarms on several Wärtsilä units. While no mechanical failures occurred, plant personnel and Wärtsilä technicians are working to safely reset and return the Wärtsilä 1-3 units to service. The process is taking longer than anticipated but is necessary to ensure system stability and reliability. Once these units are back online, the Authority expects to have sufficient generation to restore the remaining affected feeders.
WAPA remains cautiously optimistic that restoration efforts will continue to progress through the evening as additional generating units are stabilized and brought back online. While no specific timeline for full restoration has been established, the Authority is encouraged by the steady progress being made by technical teams. As of 7:30 p.m., the following feeders have been fully restored: 5A, 6B, 9B, 7E, 8B and 7A. While partial restoration has been achieved on Feeders 8A (Contant, Crown Bay), 10B (WICO), and 9C (Mariendahl and Charlotte Amalie).
WAPA also addressed public speculation regarding fuel supply, confirming that fuel availability is not the cause of the current disruption. Diesel fuel was delivered on Friday, and the LPG vessel EPIC Samos remains offshore pending discharge once plant station service stability is restored.
“The outages this past weekend are unrelated to fuel,” Knight said.
Technical personnel from WAPA, supported by Wärtsilä specialists, continue to work around the clock to restore stability. Additional technical support and further resources have arrived on island. Three Wärtsilä units and Unit 27 have returned to service, while others remain under repair and testing.
Plant operators, line personnel, engineers, and technical specialists continue working in rotating shifts to restore stable service as safely and quickly as possible.
WAPA continues to advance immediate stabilization and long-term grid improvements. This includes procuring 2.5 MW of temporary generation to strengthen black-start capability within 12 months and 10 MW of emergency standby power for St. John, targeted for installation before year-end.
Longer-term initiatives remain underway to strengthen grid resilience, including replacement planning for Units 14 and 15, expansion of renewable energy integration, development of microgrid systems, and evaluation of additional generation and storage solutions.
CEO Knight emphasized that while system stabilization is progressing, intermittent service interruptions may continue as additional generating units are returned to service and the grid is carefully balanced.
The Authority remains focused on restoring service safely and reliably and appreciates the patience and understanding of customers as crews continue working around the clock. WAPA will continue to provide updates through WAPA Alerts and its official communication channels.
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Communication’s department is committed to reaching, informing, and connecting with the youngest members of the community to the eldest, through meaningful, transparent and effective communication.