The V.I. government will set up a payment plan this month with the V.I. Water and Power Authority for the more than $16 million it owes in past due electric and water bills, the authority announced Wednesday.
In a statement, WAPA Governing Board Chairwoman Carol Burke said the pending agreement will make WAPA a "priority vendor"; the government will also agree to pay current bills on time. WAPA records show that the executive branch's monthly utility bills come to about $1.5 million per month.
The statement also indicated that auditors KPMG Peat Marwick gave the authority a "qualified" audit — which could hurt WAPA's Triple B investment rating — solely because of the outstanding government accounts.
Independent government agencies with past due amounts have reduced their outstanding accounts to $6.2 million, the statement said. Those agencies are not part of the pending agreement.