WAPA plant personnel are working with APR Energy to determine the cause of two generating unit’s tripping off-line Monday morning, leaving the St. Thomas – St. John district without electrical service for at least 30 minutes.
“Our plant personnel are in discussions with officials of the company which owns both leased units to obtain a full understanding of why the two units tripped simultaneously at about 7:45 a.m.,” said Lawrence J. Kupfer, WAPA Executive Director.
Two other generating units were brought on-line to facilitate the restoration of service. “We began restoring customers at 8:15 a.m. by first providing service to critical facilities including the hospital and airport. Shortly after 10 a.m., all schools in the district were restored, and we achieved full restoration to all customers by 11:28 a.m.,” Kupfer said.
The executive director met with Plant Superintendent John Woodson III and other employees based at the Randolph Harley power plant to not only introduce himself but to obtain a good understanding of plant operations. “I also wanted to thank these individuals for their dedication and commitment to WAPA and to express my gratitude for their efforts since the hurricanes of 2017.”
Over the next few weeks, Kupfer will be meeting employees and directors in all of WAPA’s operational and administrative areas, on all three islands. Kupfer assumed the leadership of the V.I. Water & Power Authority on March 1, 2018. Monday was his first day on St. Thomas.
