🌱 WAPA Under Fire From PSC + Lights Out On STT-STJ

A warning: it's a WAPA-heavy issue this morning. Read on to find out what's going on with the Virgin Islands' favorite water and power authority. (Plus some non-WAPA news!)

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny, a shower or two. High: 85 Low: 76.

Patch USVI also has the weekly weather forecast here.

The latest headlines from across the USVI:

• St. Thomas Police Chief Barrington Thomas Sr. says there were no serious injuries in a five-car accident that occurred near Market Place East on Friday night. (Virgin Islands Daily News)
• The Public Services Commission told the V.I. Water and Power Authority on Friday that WAPA must pay nearly $800,000 in overdue assessments before the PSC will review petitions for a rate increase.(Virgin Islands Daily News)
• And in more WAPA news: Your latest bill may not be based on your actual usage. A WAPA staff member alerted the Public Services Commission that more than 12,000 meters were officially not communicating with the Water and Power Authority's Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The AMI system collects data on power usage which is used to determine customer bills. Without properly functioning connections, WAPA estimates the bill. In the last billing cycle, 6 percent of customers received an estimated bill. (Virgin Islands Consortium)
• The Source profiled three new and noteworthy restaurants in Christiansted: Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters, Roots N Kulchah, and ParrotFish. Get hungry! (St. Croix Source)

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Today's Events:

• USVI Grow with Google Webinar Series (2:00 p.m.)

As seen on social:

• Carigas is closed. Long live Carigas! But this may not be the end! Word on the street is that the boatyard wouldn't renew their lease so Cariga's served their final dish on Friday. But rumor has it they are scouting out a new location. (What's Going On. St. Thomas?)
• A few weeks ago, St. Croix native Tamara Walcott broke the world record for deadlifting. She's pretty badass and if you haven't already, watch this video of Tamara on the Ellen show. (PopSugar)
• Large portions of St. Thomas and St. John lost power on Sunday evening. According to WAPA, the outage was caused by "loss of significant levels of generation capacity at the Randolph Harley Power Plant." (WAPA)

• Virgin Islands Port Authority: "Have you seen our new vendor’s plaza at Crown Bay Center? We have completely renovated the entire plaza with new kiosks, a new protective ceiling and a vibrant, fresh coat of paint in tropical colors." (Facebook)
• Virgin Islands Department of Health: "It's time to get your family's flu vaccines!" (Facebook)

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You're in the loop for today. I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow morning. Have a good one!

— Ashleigh Baldwin

About me: I'm the Patch Community News Editor for the U.S. Virgin Islands. I'm here to provide news you can use. Do you have a news tip, question or feedback? Please contact me at ashleigh.baldwin@patch.com.