St. Thomas, USVI (United States Virgin Islands) – Senator Donna Frett-Gregory thanked her colleagues today for supporting Bill No. 35-0311, which requires that within 60 days the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (“WAPA”) request technical assistance from the federal government to aide in modernizing its electrical grid. “I strongly believe that it’s time for us to really engage the federal partners in a meaningful way,” Frett-Gregory said.
Bill No. 35-0311 grew out of a meeting last week with the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who said that the U.S. Department of Energy would be willing to provide WAPA “if it asked for it” with federal technical assistance. Secretary Granholm called the power reliability issues facing residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands “unacceptable” during her visit. “During this state of emergency, with rotating power outages, outdated equipment, and failures in generating capacity and distribution, we must solicit the assistance we need. While no one is coming to save us, we do have support mechanisms that are available that can assist through these challenging times and we should utilize them,” Frett-Gregory added.
Bill No. 35-0311 requires WAPA to submit a proposed modernization plan to the Legislature within 270 days outlining the steps and timeline for implementing upgrades to their electrical grid, after receiving technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and/or other relevant federal agencies. The plan must emphasize efficiency, reliability, and resilience, incorporating recommendations and best practices by the federal agencies. It must also prioritize the use of renewable energy sources, energy storage solutions, and smart grid technologies.
The measure also requires WAPA to consider providing small scale, home battery backup using solar power to all its residential customers, which would lower grid costs for WAPA while providing customers with sustainable electricity during grid disruptions or electric outages. It refers to a pilot program offered by Green Mountain Power in Vermont since 2015 that allows residential customers to lease solar powered batteries that provide renewable backup power in the event of a power outage. https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/money/2023/06/06/green-mountain-power-wants-toeliminate-the-wait-for-tesla-powerwalls/70289137007/
The bill passed unanimously (14-0 with one member absent) and will be forwarded to the Governor for consideration.
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