Sept. 29, 2008 — Mounting public discontent with V.I. Water and Power Authority rate increases has reached a peak, prompting the Public Services Commission to revise its Thursday agenda for the public to be heard.
The public will have its say Thursday on an agenda already packed with WAPA matters at the 10 a.m. meeting in the V.I. Port Authority conference room at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix. The PSC has been flooded with petitions for relief from the current rates.
"We have received thousands of petitions," said PSC Chairman Joseph Boschulte on Monday. "It's a signal to PSC members that the cost of electricity and water has become unbearable to many people. We had to change the agenda."
The agenda had already been set when the massive onslaught of petitions began to arrive, he said.
"We have been in conversations with WAPA to reduce reliability on fuel," he said. "This is another sign that something needs to be done in the immediate future. It's easier now to have a reduced levelized energy-adjustment clause (LEAC), because worldwide fuel costs have dropped significantly in the last few months."
At it's last meeting on St. Thomas, despite repeated requests from WAPA, the PSC refused to grant the authority an automatic LEAC adjustment, which would allow for monthly adjustments of the charges whenever the cost of oil goes up or down by $1.75.
The influx of petitions has affected the PSC's office equipment, said Keithly Joseph, executive director.
"We have a stack of petitions, about three or four reams of paper, to the point where we can't even send out a fax," he said. "Our machine has backed up."
Prominent among the petitions is one submitted by V.I. Concerned Citizens, (VICC) a group advocating to lower WAPA rates. The group, represented by Clarence Payne, submitted a motion for the PSC to reconsider a Sept. 2 decision increasing the LEAC by charging for both water and power. Payne's letter was three pages long — with a petition attached containing around 4,000 signatures.
"I'll go to St. Croix to testify," Payne said when he learned of the PSC public hearing Thursday morning. "This has come to a head, but these are the new Virgin Islanders — we speak up; we need a public meeting here, too."
The mercantile rate for oil prices has declined by 34 percent, he said.
"As of September, a barrel was forecast to hit a high of $140 per barrel, and it's declined," Payne said. "WAPA anticipated this higher cost when they got the 19-percent increase."
In a motion to the PSC answering Payne's allegations, WAPA took issue with Payne's figures, which it says are not correct — a view reiterated by the PSC.
"Some of Mr. Payne's figures are incorrect," Joseph said. "We don't know where he got the figures."
Oil prices have changed rapidly in the past few weeks. In its motion, WAPA explained that the price Payne quoted for oil — $93 per barrel on Sept. 19 — would not be reflected in what WAPA pays until November, at the earliest. The price charged by Hovensa is based on the average cost of fuel, the motion says. For instance, Hovensa has fuel in its tanks that cost it $130 per barrel, so it is averaged out.
Payne says his goal is to be heard: "We want a short-term plan to give us immediate relief and a long-term plan with concrete energy solutions."
At an economic fair Saturday at Tutu Park Mall, Payne pledged, "We're going to continue our forms of protest in any way necessary until this issue is solved, and resolved amicably." He reiterated that approach Monday, indicating he is looking forward to the forum on Thursday.
Representatives of WAPA and Hovensa also spoke at the economic fair Saturday. (See "WAPA, Hovensa, Face Residents' Concerns at Economic Fair.") Meanwhile, the public continues to speak out.
"More petitions are coming in today, Wednesday and Thursday," Payne said. "There will be more until this 19-percent increase is taken off the table."
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