St. Croix experienced a widespread power failure on Tuesday morning after a generating unit at the Richmond Power Plant malfunctioned, according to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA).
The equipment trip destabilized the electrical grid and activated safety systems on other running generators, cascading into an outage that darkened the entire island from East End to West End. More than 20,000 customers lost electricity during business hours. WAPA personnel worked to isolate the damaged unit, steady line frequencies, and execute the sequential restart procedure needed to safely return high-voltage feeders to service.
Restoration began just before noon in phases across seven main feeders: 1A, 2A, 3A, 5A, 6A, 6B, and 10B. WAPA declared full restoration at 12:05 p.m., though some neighbourhoods remained offline beyond the two-hour mark.
The Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital & Medical Center switched to backup generators during the outage. Hospital officials reported that internet, telephone, and outpatient services suffered disruptions while staff maintained oversight of critical care units. Emergency generators ran until grid voltage returned to safe levels for transferring medical equipment back to utility power.
Retail businesses, financial institutions, pharmacies, and fuel stations across the island either operated on auxiliary power or closed temporarily. Owners and hospitality workers expressed frustration on social media, citing disruption to refrigeration, payment systems, and guest services. The blackout struck between cruise visits: a ship had departed Monday, with additional vessels scheduled to arrive at the Ann E. Abramson Pier in Frederiksted on Wednesday and Thursday.
WAPA said investigators are examining what caused the initial unit failure at Richmond.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.