Widespread, albeit brief, power outages plagued St. Thomas on Thursday as a public hearing was under way on St. John on the topic of whether or not to sell 80 percent of the Water and Power Authority to Southern Energy Inc.
WAPA spokesperson Patricia Blake Simmonds said the problems began at 12:45 p.m. when a steam mechanism on Unit 15 broke, causing the unit to "go down." The breakdown caused Feeders 6, 7a and 8a to go offline.
Simmonds said, "We have brought up Unit 13, and as soon as it is synchronized, we’ll place those feeders on it."
She said she did not anticipate any further problems Thursday due to the non-operation of Unit 15.
Feeder 6 serves Nisky, Bournfield, Fortuna, Crown Mountain, The Towers, Santa Maria, Dorothea, part of Hull Bay, part of Contant, Botany Bay, Estate Pearl, Brass View, Lindbergh Bay, Estate Hope, Bordeaux, Crown and Hawk, Neltjeberg, Plantation Manor, Upper Caret Bay, John Dunkoe, Bonne Resolution, part of Soto Town, part of Solberg, Caret Bay, part of Bonne Esperance and the University of the Virgin Islands.
Feeder 7a serves part of Hull Bay, Lilliendahl, part of Contant, Mountain Top, Donoe Bypass, Zufriedenheit, Skyline Drive, Peterborg, Mandahl, Misgunst, Louisenhoj, part of Hospital Ground, part of Soto Town, Marienhoj, Lerkenlund, Wintberg, part of Anna's Retreat, part of Agnes' Fancy, Magens Bay, Mahogany Run, part of Solberg, Mafolie, Canaan, part of Hidden Valley, part of Wintberg Peak, Altona & Welgunst, North Star Village, St. Peter Mountain Road and St. Joseph & Rosendahl.
Feeder 8a serves part of Nisky Center, part of Contant, Anna's Fancy, part of Old Tutu, Vester Gade, part of Agnes' Fancy, part of Hospital Ground, WSTA, Estate Mahogany, Garden Street, part of Wintberg Peak, Savan, Lytton's Fancy, the Governor's Residence (former Danish consulate), Knud Hansen Hospital, Roy L. Schneider Hospital and Charlotte Amalie High School.
For a complete list of feeders and their coverage areas, see the Community/Data section of the Source.