Electricity was restored across St. Thomas and St. John late on October 24, 2026, after several days of districtwide outages in the United States Virgin Islands that disrupted schools and early voting. Officials warned the district’s power system will remain vulnerable until more generation comes online in 2027.
The US Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) restored all feeders at about 11:35 pm on October 24. The fix came after crews repaired General Electric Unit 27 at the Randolph Harley Power Plant with parts flown in from Tyler, Texas, and Sedalia, Missouri. WAPA cautioned that restoring every feeder did not mean every customer had power.
Days of disruption
The latest outages began the night of October 21. The next morning, the US Virgin Islands Department of Education delayed the opening of all public schools on St. Thomas and St. John to 9 am. That afternoon, WAPA announced rotating outages and blamed problems with Unit 27 and Wärtsilä Unit 7. “We are bringing additional personnel from St. Croix to support the team,” said Karl Knight, WAPA’s CEO and executive director.
A districtwide outage hit at about 9:17 am on October 23, and another followed on the afternoon of October 24. On October 25, early voting hours in the St. Thomas–St. John district were cut to 1 pm to 4 pm.
A system without backup
The utility entered the week with little margin. At an October 19 hearing before the Senate’s Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection Committee, WAPA spokesperson Shanell Spencer said three units were out of service: Units 15 and 23 and Wärtsilä Unit 5. She warned that losing another unit could bring rotating outages. “We do not have any fuel shortages at this time. Now we do have financial challenges, financial shortfalls,” Spencer said.
Unit 15 is projected to return in January 2027, and Unit 23 between October and December 2027. Both are being repaired through a Federal Emergency Management Agency program managed by the US Virgin Islands Office of Disaster Recovery.
Units 15 and 23 also provide “black-start” capability, the ability to restart the system after a complete shutdown, Knight told the St. Thomas Source. With Unit 15 down, operators had to rely on smaller Wärtsilä units and restore service section by section.
Help still months away
Four Cummins generators totaling 10 megawatts arrived in the territory in September to back up St. John. St. John depends on undersea cable connections to St. Thomas. The roughly $8 million in generators was funded by FEMA, and WAPA has said they could be installed in early 2027. Two temporary turbines for St. Thomas are being refurbished in Houston, with full temporary installation projected for January 2027. Longer-term replacement of generation at the Randolph Harley and Richmond plants is under a contract executed in May.
The governor responds
Governor Albert Bryan Jr. (D) acknowledged residents’ frustration on October 24. “I know the people of St. Thomas and St. John have had a rough couple of days, and I know the frustration is real,” he said. “At this point, the biggest challenge is not money. It is time.”
Government House said the unavailability of Units 15, 23, and 27 over the past year left WAPA with limited backup capacity. It said the newer Wärtsilä units were meant to supplement older generation damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, not replace it. Bryan pointed to past steps, including “permanently resolving the Vitol matter.” In 2022, WAPA warned of blackouts when Vitol stopped supplying propane.
Bryan authorized US Virgin Islands Department of Human Services Commissioner Averil George to begin seeking federal approval for assistance to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients who lost food during the outages. He also sent the 36th Legislature of the US Virgin Islands a $250 million bond-financing proposal. It includes $40 million to help WAPA address outstanding obligations.
Senate Vice President Kenneth Gittens (D) urged the territory to consider selling WAPA’s generation assets to a private operator while keeping the distribution network public. “We must be willing to consider bold, practical solutions,” he said.
Power reliability has been an issue in this year’s race for the open governor’s seat. Candidates tied WAPA’s troubles to the current administration, and one promised to make the utility a first priority.
“I cannot promise there will not be another outage,” Bryan said, “but I can tell our people we have not been sitting idle.”
