Four new generators arrive in United States Virgin Islands to strengthen St. John power reliability

Four new standby generators providing 10 megawatts of additional backup generation capacity arrived in the United States Virgin Islands this week, marking another step in the ongoing effort to modernize the territory’s energy infrastructure and improve reliability for St. John residents.

The four Cummins 2.5-megawatt generator sets arrived Wednesday following shipment from Alabama and are scheduled to be transported to the Randolph Harley Power Plant on St. Thomas, where they will support the St. Thomas-St. John electric system. The generators represent an approximately $8 million investment funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the territory’s ongoing disaster recovery program, and are being advanced by the US Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and the Office of Disaster Recovery in partnership with contractor RG Engineering.

“The arrival of these generators is another important step toward our goal of building a more reliable, efficient and resilient energy system for the Virgin Islands,” Governor Albert Bryan Jr. (D) said. “When St. John faced serious reliability challenges earlier this year, I made clear that we needed to strengthen the system serving the island and move dedicated backup generation forward.”

St. John, the smallest of the United States Virgin Islands’ three main islands, has long faced energy vulnerabilities tied to its dependence on undersea cable connections to St. Thomas. The island has no on-island generation of its own, making it particularly exposed to outages when those connections fail. The US Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority has faced prolonged and repeated service interruptions across the territory in recent years, a crisis that became a central issue in the 2026 gubernatorial primary race.

The standby generation project is one component of a broader effort to strengthen electric service to St. John. WAPA is also advancing the Cabrita Point Distribution Circuit Redundancy Project, which will repair and reconnect the submarine cable circuit and restore a redundant electrical connection to the island. That redundancy will give the authority greater flexibility to reroute power during maintenance, equipment failures, and unexpected outages.

The generators underwent load testing in May, and required air permits have been secured from the US Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources. Remaining building permits are being pursued, with construction expected to begin in September. Installation, commissioning, testing, and startup are projected for completion by January 2027.

Because of the size and weight of the equipment, the transportation of generators from the Crown Bay area to the Randolph Harley Power Plant required specialized transportation equipment and coordinated traffic control. WAPA and its contractor coordinated with the Virgin Islands Port Authority, the Virgin Islands Police Department, and the Department of Public Works to manage the movement. Temporary road closures and traffic restrictions were in effect along portions of the route.

The project is part of a broader administration effort that includes replacing aging generation, improving transmission, and expanding solar and battery storage across the territory. An earlier contract for new permanent power generation at the Randolph Harley Power Plant and the Richmond Power Plant on St. Croix—a progressive design-build project also led by RG Engineering—is expected to reach substantial completion by 2030.

“We know what United States Virgin Islanders expect from their electric system,” Bryan said. “Our responsibility is to keep these projects moving, get the equipment into service, and make sure these investments translate into greater reliability for the people we serve.”