Plans to build electricity-generating trash-burning plants on St. Croix and St. Thomas will be the focus of V.I. Public Services Commission hearings Monday on St. Croix and Tuesday on St. Thomas.

In December 2007, as petroleum prices were rising, the V.I. Water and Power Authority issued a formal Request For Proposal, inviting close to a hundred companies to submit alternative energy plans. WAPA had originally anticipated concluding these agreements by the end of 2008, but progress was slowed by the recent disruptions in the credit markets, instability in the oil markets, and the need for finalists to negotiate and contract with third parties to support their proposals.

In August, Government House announced WAPA had entered into two power-purchase agreements with Denver-based Alpine Energy Group for waste-to-energy facilities on St. Thomas and St. Croix. At the same time, Government House said the V.I. Waste Management Authority would contract with the same agency and use the facilities to help reduce waste at the territory's two landfills. Both sets of agreements are for 20 years.

Alpine will invest $440 million -- $280 million on St. Thomas and $160 million on St. Croix -- to construct the refuse-derived fuel-and-power-generation facilities on both islands. It's projected that 146,000 tons of municipal solid waste will be converted to fuel every year, producing 33 megawatts of power on St. Thomas and 16 megawatts on St. Croix -- or about 32 to 33 percent of the authority's current peak-generation load, according to WAPA Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr.

WAPA will pay to build the interconnect grid infrastructure, and Alpine will reimburse the utility up to $15 million per island. WAPA will also spend $6 million to $8 million in bond proceeds and other internally generated funds on upgrades to St. Croix's Richmond Power Plant.

  The Waste Management Agency is currently operating under two consent decrees, and has been mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to close St. Croix's Anguilla Landfill at the end of this year, and the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas between 2014 and 2017. The waste-to-energy technology will help by sorting out the waste on both sites, removing the recyclable materials and turning the remaining trash -- including scrap tires -- into what looks like small pellets for fuel.

The permitting phase is expected to last nine to 12 months, putting the start of construction around May 2010. On St. Thomas, the facility will be located in Long Point -- or Estate Bovoni -- while St. Croix's facility will be built near the Krause Lagoon, between the container port and molasses pier.

PSC hearings will be Monday, Oct. 5, at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix (parking tickets will be validated), and on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the St. Thomas PSC Office in Barbel Plaza. Hearings begin at 5:30 p.m. The contract documents will be available for review Saturday at the WAPA business offices on St. Croix at the Sunny Isle Shopping Center Annex and on St. Thomas at Sub Base from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., according to a WAPA announcement Friday.

They may also be reviewed at the Innovative business offices on St. Croix at Estate Diamond and on St. Thomas at Tutu Park Mall from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. All agreements concerning this project are available for review at the Public Services Commission Offices from Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Copies of WAPA’s agreements with Alpine Energy Group are available upon written request to the Office of WAPA’s General Counsel on St. Thomas or St. Croix.