Energy

(Editor’s Note: The Alpine Power Purchase Agreements for St. Thomas and St. Croix are attached at the end of this document at no charge for your review.) In a meeting that violated the public notice provisions of the Virgin Islands Code, the Virgin Islands Public Services Commission (PSC) voted to approve the agreement between the Alpine Energy Group...
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(Editor’s Note: This article has been updated after further review of the PSC response to our inquiry about the notification of the AEG public hearings going on yesterday and today. CIF is challenging the premise of the PSC response and has updated this post to highlight the discrepancies.) Crucians In Focus (CIF) has received a response to...
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The entire agreement between Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) and the Alpine Energy Group (AEG) may be invalid. Research into documents related to this project, including the attached testimony of WAPA Executive Director Hugo Hodge, Jr., reveal that the critical Request For Proposal (RFP) criterion for a non-oil based renewable energy provider was not...
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It seems that both the Virgin Islands Public Services Commission (PSC) and the Water and Power Authority (WAPA) need a lesson in communication, transparency and the law. Both agencies appear to be deliberately making it difficult, if not impossible, for the public to be prepared for the hastily publicized hearings on the agreements with the...
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CIF Requests Postponement; Late Notice Raises Legal Red Flags  If there was ever an issue to cause our community to cry out for transparency, this is it. The Virgin Islands Public Services Commission (PSC) will violate the 15-day advance notice provision of the Virgin Islands Code if public hearings on the Alpine Energy Group (AEG) proposal are...
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The Virgin Islands Public Services Commission  (PSC) has scheduled public hearings on the controversial  “waste to energy” deal with the Alpine Energy Group (AEG) on October 5-6. The PSC may render a decision on the matter as early as October 6, following the end of the second day of hearings. And despite all the discussion this proposal...
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This is the tale of two energy entrepreneurs whose journey to free the Virgin Islands from the grip of fossil fuels has stalled at a guardhouse erected by the VI government bureaucracy. The first tale was sent to us by Steffen Larsen, who has built his business, Mitchell-Larsen Studios, on a foundation of alternate energy principles. After...
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On Tuesday, the PSC board approved a 22.9-percent increase in the electric Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause (LEAC) rate and a 14.6 percent increase in the water LEAC rate. This action will raise the average monthly residential electric bill to $209.29 and the average residential water bill to $63.16 for a household using 2,400...
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Guest Opinion by Gonzalo Rivera Eighteen months ago we went to the polls and elected a new governor and fifteen senators to represent us, yet today we are faced with the same challenges that existed at the time. Only difference between now and then is the fact that our representatives receive a bigger salary in...
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What would candidate deJongh do to address our most pressing issue; the cost of living? To date, we have witnessed: -Press releases and press conferences on the formation of committees and task force groups Share on Facebook
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Buckling under the pressure of the frequent rate increases? Impatient waiting for action from your government? Candidate deJongh’s reply in the October 31, 2006 VI Daily News Voter Guide: (click image below to view) Talks only started on March 14th of 2008 , a whole year and 3 months after inauguration. We hope progress comes...
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Guest Opinion by Dwane A. Callwood I would like to take the opportunity to offer what I perceive to be a viable solution to our current energy crisis, here in the US Virgin Islands. Before I get into the specifics, please allow me to preface my idea with certain acknowledgments. I acknowledge that the energy...
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In late 2007, Mario Moorehead voiced a plan to fund a new power plant in an effort to address the crisis we are experiencing with our WAPA rates. Feel free to voice your opinion on the plan which we have summarized below: Share on Facebook
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Guest Opinion by G.O. Figure News from Government House is that a couple of Bookend Rasputins are conjuring and using beaucoup fuzzy science to write an energy policy for the territory. This on the heels of the Legislature’s recent edict of spite, one-ups-manship for the Governor’s senseless move of the Energy Office from DPNR to...
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Guest Opinion by Verdel L. Petersen The monster has grown to astronomical capacity, so has its ferocious appetite. It constantly gobbles, but is never satiated. The terror it evokes in the territory has some panic-strickened. When will this living nightmare cease? Will we eventually be consumed by the beast? Share on Facebook
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