WAPA Amends Solar Contracts Amid Double-Billing Concerns, Eyes $4M Annual Savings

Amendments to contracts with St. Croix solar farms eliminate concerns of paying twice for electricity

During Thursday’s meeting, the Water and Power Authority Governing board approved amendments to contractual agreements with the company that operates two solar farms on St. Croix.‌ Back in June, the board narrowly defeated a battery storage lease agreement with VI Electron over concerns that WAPA could be paying twice for electricity coming from the Estate Petronella and Estate Hogansborg solar installations. At the time, the language in the agreement was viewed as requiring WAPA to pay an overall lease in addition to paying for the metered energy coming from those batteries. Former Executive Director Andrew Smith acknowledged that it was a major concern for the utility, saying that “we lease the battery, and there should be no charge for the energy coming out.”‌