The Water and Power Authority said it hoped to restore electrical service to St. Croix by Saturday evening after a morning power surge tripped all generators and resulted in an island-wide power service interruption.
In a news release issued at 4 p.m., WAPA said crews continued to work throughout the afternoon at the Estate Richmond power plant.
"Throughout the day, WAPA personnel have been going through a tedious process of troubleshooting a grounding fault with a breaker circuit that is preventing a tie in of the power generators to the feeders," the news release said. "A tie in of the generators to the feeders is needed to successfully transmit electricity from the plant to the electrical distribution system and to WAPA’s customers."
WAPA said over the next hour or so it isolate the faulting breaker and energize feeders one by one, beginning with service to the power plant itself and the Juan F. Luis Hospital.
Updates are being provided through VI Alert, WAPA’s web site, and WAPA switchboard at 1-340-773-2250, option 6.