{"id":10939,"date":"2024-11-21T16:44:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T16:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/?p=10939"},"modified":"2026-04-12T12:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:34:35","slug":"federal-and-local-partnerships-showcased-during-hud-secretarys-visit-to-wapa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/federal-and-local-partnerships-showcased-during-hud-secretarys-visit-to-wapa\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal and Local Partnerships Showcased During HUD Secretary\u2019s Visit to WAPA"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 21, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n

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Federal and Local Partnerships Showcased During HUD Secretary\u2019s Visit to WAPA<\/b><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS \u2013 The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (\u201cWAPA\u201d or the \u201cAuthority\u201d) welcomed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Adrianna Todman to its St. Croix Business Office today for a detailed review of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funded projects.<\/p>\n

During the visit, WAPA provided updates on several critical initiatives aimed at improving the reliability and resilience of the territory\u2019s utility infrastructure. These include the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at the Richmond Power Plant, tank stabilization efforts, and the ongoing development of renewable energy sources. Secretary Todman\u2019s visit underscores the importance of federal partnerships in addressing infrastructure challenges and advancing disaster recovery.<\/p>\n

WAPA has made significant progress toward enhancing energy reliability and affordability, highlighted by the acquisition of the Vitol propane terminal through the CDBG-Mitigation program. This transition strengthens WAPA\u2019s control over the propane supply, reduces reliance on external operators, and positions the Authority for long-term fuel cost stability and improved reliability by 2025. Concurrently, WAPA is advancing grid stabilization projects, including a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at the Richmond Power Plant to improve voltage regulation and outage recovery, and the Tank Stabilization Project, which is awaiting HUD approval for geotechnical studies and design to support future infrastructure improvements.<\/p>\n

WAPA\u2019s Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Karl Knight, emphasized the significance of the collaboration, \u201cToday\u2019s visit by Secretary Todman highlights the critical role that federal and local partnerships play in driving the success of infrastructure projects. We are proud to showcase the progress we\u2019ve made and remain dedicated to leveraging these collaborations to deliver reliable, sustainable services to the Virgin Islands community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary Todman commended WAPA\u2019s leadership and staff, noting the expertise of key team members during the visit. The CDBG program has been instrumental in funding projects that address the territory\u2019s recovery and energy stability needs, including the Richmond Power Plant upgrades and the Phase II W\u00e4rtsil\u00e4\u00a0project in St. Thomas. The Authority continues to work closely with HUD, VIHFA, and other stakeholders to ensure efficient use of disaster recovery funds and timely completion of these essential projects.<\/p>\n

CEO Knight added, \u201cIt\u2019s sobering to reflect on how much progress the Authority has made with the federal and local backing. The acquisition of the propane terminals\u2014lifelines for the territory\u2014has brought us more efficient, lower-cost fuel and infrastructure that we now control. For the first time, we will source LPG on the open market, ensuring greater flexibility and reliability for our customers. We are deeply grateful for the means to achieve this accomplishment for the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Communication\u2019s department is committed to reaching, informing, and connecting with the youngest members of the community to the eldest, through meaningful, transparent and effective communication.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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###<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 21, 2024 Federal and Local Partnerships Showcased During HUD Secretary\u2019s Visit to WAPA U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS \u2013 The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (\u201cWAPA\u201d or the \u201cAuthority\u201d) welcomed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Adrianna Todman to its St. Croix Business Office today for a detailed review of Community Development […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"project_id":"","notification":"","due_date":"","status":"","show_rebuild":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,154],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-viodr-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20322,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10939\/revisions\/20322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usviodr.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}