WAPA officials say rotation outages could continue into the weekend as crews work to bring a critical generation unit back online following a breakdown Thursday that continues to strain the system.
In an interview with the Source Friday afternoon, V.I. Water and Power Authority Chief Executive Officer Karl Knight said crews are aiming to restart Unit 15 as early as Saturday, but acknowledged repairs could stretch into Sunday depending on progress.
The unit, one of the Harley Plant’s aging generators, tripped around midday Thursday, forcing the utility into load-shedding protocols while crews began repairs. Because the unit must cool before work can begin, response efforts have been slowed. While offline, the system is short roughly 5 megawatts of generation — enough to trigger rotational outages, particularly during evening peak demand, he explained.
Knight said the authority has been running six of its seven available engines, but without Unit 15, operators have had to rotate feeders to balance load. “There are points and times where we are short capacity,” he said, noting that rotations are used to prevent a wider system failure.
WAPA issued multiple alerts overnight into Friday morning as crews worked to stabilize service. By about 1 a.m., the authority said most feeders had been restored, though some pockets — including feeders 10B, 6B, and portions of 7B — remained offline temporarily. WAPA warned that the rotation schedule would remain in effect through the morning hours and likely beyond as additional generation came online.
Through much of Friday, officials said they were largely able to stick to the published rotation schedule, aided by lower daytime demand and supplemental generation from solar facilities on St. Thomas, along with the Wartsila units currently in operation. But heading into the evening peak, the system again showed signs of strain.
Residents on the 6:30 p.m. rotation and subsequent cycles reported that some feeders did not fully restore when scheduled. Feeder 6A, for example, experienced only a partial restoration, with similar issues reported on 7A and other circuits — a result of the continued shortfall in available generation capacity.
Knight said the situation underscores the fragility of the territory’s aging infrastructure. Unit 15, along with its sister unit 14 — already retired — has long been slated for replacement, but delays in securing FEMA-funded projects have kept the unit in service beyond its intended lifespan. “That unit is starting to show its age,” he said, adding that without a full overhaul, it is nearing the end of its useful life.
In the short term, WAPA is working to bring additional capacity online, including repairs to Unit 27, which could return to service within the next few weeks and help stabilize the grid. Longer-term plans call for replacing the aging units with new generation, potentially supplemented by temporary leased power, Knight added.
WAPA has also indicated it will continue issuing updated schedules as conditions evolve.
The Source will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
