A "Flip the Switch" protest of high energy costs and the V.I. Water and Power Authority’s system of charging for the fuel it burns to generate power appears to have fizzled.
"The people of the United States Virgin Islands will stand in solidarity against the tyranny of the administration, the PSC and WAPA and turn off all lights and electrical appliances on 11/11/11," V.I. Green Party officials said on their website. "This course of action will send a message to our leaders that we will not be held hostage economically for a basic need.
Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, who ran for the Legislature in 2010 promising to "eliminate the LEAC," the section of WAPA bills that itemizes the cost of the fuel oil it uses to run its generators, also promoted the "Flip the Switch" protest.
But, whether because people did not endorse the protest or just because they are too attached to their electrical appliances, the effort had no measurable impact on consumption, according to WAPA officials.
"We peaked at about 70 megawatts on ST and about 45 on St. Croix today," WAPA spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn said Friday evening. "That is usual for holidays and weekends," she said. Weekends and holidays have lower usage than weekdays as a rule, she said. Of course Friday was Veterans Day, so any drop in usage because of intentional protest actions may have been drowned out by the broader holiday-based drop-off. The previous day, consumption peaked at about 55 megawatts on St. Croix and about 81 megawatts on St. Thomas, according to Dunn.
Like many island communities, the territory’s power plants run on fuel oil, which has skyrocketed in price in recent years, causing the price of water and electricity to skyrocket too. Many V.I. residents are frustrated about the cost and question why the territory’s government-owned utility did not wean itself off oil long ago. Some blame WAPA for charging for the fuel it uses, saying the base rate is "usage" and the fuel cost is an unfair extra charge that can be avoided by legislation, loans, renegotiating fuel costs with the Hovensa refinery or other quick actions.
It is a clear sin what we are charged for power. More than rent? Who does that? Who would ever think that? We have one of the world’s largest oil refinery on island and we pay the same for gas and power as if they were not here. That is criminal. WAPA thief its customers. Where is justice? The people spend too much time looking at history – Wake up people – look at the here and now. We are slaves to WAPA thiefing.
Its true, and do you really think Wapa would admit to any change in usage. You have examples when dead folks have been charged for power and there is no such thing as usage charges. Its an uneducated guess based upon previous usage history almost all the time. Only when the LEAC goes up do the Wapa meter readers come out to “read” the meter. You never see them around when the price of fuel goes down, which is a rarity in itself. A semi-autonomous agency? Corruption at its purest form. When is the last time a true audit was performed? I suggest somehow getting the Federal GOV involved into this mess; otherwise you can expect no change whatsoever. We are currently paying the GOV’s Wapa tab amongst others, fuel for vehicles that we paid for, that we consistently see being driven to Tutu to go shopping, Magen’s beach for Sunday beach limes. C’mon people wake up and smell the hypocrisy.
You are so right what we need to do is start a real protest . Lets sign a petition that says we are not going to vote for any sentor that is in office now. And mean it . Protesting and marching is getting us no where . Scare the senators that they might lose there jobs just like we might will work. We all agreeed to an 8 percent cut because we wanted to keep our jobs . I personally like a few sentors however, they are doing nothing but saying yes we know , we are working on it. We support the people as we drive our suv with the money the taxpayers gave us.
Ok,, let me get this straight exactly how is WAPA ripping off the customers? Are they charging the customers the same price for fuel oil as they are charged by Hovensa? If WAPA is charging the customers more for fuel oil than what they buy it for then I agree they are ripping off the customers! If not what is the problem? The problem is not Hovensa’s! Hovensa sells the fuel oil under cost to WAPA. Under cost for these reasons, Hovensa pays to transport the fuel to the WAPA power plant, Hovensa does not charge the cost of refining the crude oil into fuel oil, two seperate things. So WAPA is getting the fuel oil under market cost. This is the Real World, if your selling a product won’t you want to make a fair profit? Hovensa takes a loss on every gallon of fuel oil it sells to WAPA! Brothers and Sisters, Count your Blessings! Hovensa is one of those Blessings! Please STOP BEATING THEM UP! I would hate to think how bad we would have it on the Island or the whole of the VI if Hovensa didn’t exsist to pay huge amounts of tax dollars into the basket!