Residents Share Their Thoughts on How WAPA Should Move Forward

Following frequent power outages, news of the resignation of CEO Andrew Smith, and WAPA’s perennial financial issues, the Consortium sought the perspective of those most affected by the instability— local residents

Amidst ongoing instability at WAPA – the utility’s perennial financial issues, frequent power outages, and news of the imminent departure of CEO Andrew Smith – the Consortium asked those who are most affected by the crisis, everyday Virgin Islanders, about their experience with the utility and what they believe would be needed to remedy the situation.‌

“We need to get rid of WAPA itself and make it private because whatever they have been doing for the last 10 years since I moved back here is a waste of time and waste of money,” Andy McCarthy told Consortium journalists. For Mr. McCarthy, the instability is due to a lack of “fortitude” from WAPA and government officials to pursue alternative options. “One of the things they could do instead of buying all the propane is invest that money in, put it in, solar panels in everybody's houses that will eliminate a lot of that stuff—feedback into the grid—that's one of the reasons,” McCarthy proposed. Despite using solar power himself, McCarthy nevertheless expressed frustration towards WAPA’s high electrical bills—which he attributes to their “old” and “inefficient” equipment—because he said the average Virgin Islander cannot afford solar panels in their homes.