EDITORIAL: The Unit 27 Mirage — Restoration or Just More Rotation?
THE POWER BROKERS: Governor Albert Bryan Jr. (center) meets with WAPA CEO Karl Knight (right) and board members at Government House in Christiansted on Wednesday. The high-stakes briefing focused on the restoration of the aging Unit 27 and the precarious end of rotating outages in the St. Thomas-St. John district. While the administration touts the "return to service," residents remain skeptical of a grid that relies on decades-old machinery and "emergency" plans that arrive just as the lights go out. (Photo courtesy of Government House)
By the ST. CROIX SUN EDITORIAL BOARD
DATELINE: FREDERIKSTED — Governor Albert Bryan Jr. took to the airwaves this week to "welcome" the restoration of Unit 27, signaling an end to the rolling blackouts that have crippled the St. Thomas-St. John district. To hear the administration tell it, one might think we’ve just inaugurated a cold-fusion reactor.
In reality, we are being asked to cheer because a piece of machinery old enough to collect social security has finally been coaxed back into a state of semi-consciousness.
A Stay of Execution, Not a Solution
The Governor’s "victory lap" ignores the fundamental rot at the heart of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA). Celebrating the return of Unit 27 is like a mechanic telling you your car is "fixed" because he found a way to jump-start a dead battery with a coat hanger and a prayer. It is not a permanent fix; it is a temporary patch on a tire that has been bald for a decade.
Governor Bryan claims his commitment to "fixing WAPA" is stronger now than ever. But residents of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John don’t need "stronger commitments"—they need stronger infrastructure. We are tired of being told that the "light at the end of the tunnel" is approaching, only to find out the light is flickering because the generator just tripped again.
The Fiction of Progress
The administration’s narrative relies on a short memory. We are told about utility-scale solar projects "advancing" and backup units "under repair," while our monthly bills remain a secondary mortgage. The "fiction" being sold from Government House is that the absence of a total blackout constitutes a triumph of governance.
The people of the Virgin Islands deserve a grid that doesn't require a press release every time it manages to function for 24 consecutive hours.
The Bottom Line
If this is the Governor’s idea of a "fix," we would hate to see his definition of a failure. Until the systemic debt is cleared, the aging plants are decommissioned, and the promised renewables actually hit the grid, "Unit 27" isn't a victory—it's a symptom of a government that has mastered the art of managing decline while calling it progress.
Even a visionary like Elon Musk—who is currently more likely to colonize Mars than move to St. Croix—would recognize this for what it is: a "rapid unscheduled assembly" of a broken promise.
