The Virgin Islands’ efforts to free itself from dependence on fossil fuels will mean big changes in the lives of islanders, Energy Office Director Karl Knight said Saturday.
"Life will never be the same in the Virgin Islands," Knight told an audience of about 40 people attending a conference sponsored by AARP and the League of Women Voters.
The conference, "EDIN and LEAC for Residential Consumers," was designed to explain the factors that lead to high energy costs in the territory. It is the first of what conference officials said will be a series of meetings on issues of importance to the territory.
Because LEAC – the much-discussed Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause – is directly tied to the cost of fossil fuel used to generate electricity, the only way to lower it is to lower the use of those fossil fuels. A year ago, Gov. John de Jongh Jr. set a goal of reducing the territory’s use of fossil fuels 60 percent by the year 2025.
That seems like a huge undertaking, and Knight did not downplay the challenge. But the territory has a plan for achieving that ambitious goal, he said, and is already on its way.
To cut the use of fossil fuels 60 percent, the territory will have to reduce usage from about 2.5 million barrels a year to 1.2 million. Without that goal, if things were allowed to continue as they have, by 2025 economic growth is estimated to have increased the territory’s fossil fuel usage to about 3 billion barrels.
Officials from the Energy Office and WAPA have calculated that to achieve the target, one out of every four residences and businesses in the territory will have to cut their electrical use 25 percent, and three out of four government buildings.
Thanks to EDIN, an international program called Energy Development in Island Nations, the territory has been teamed with U.S. energy institutions to help them on that path.
"We have access to free technical assistance from any expert in the energy field available," he said.
Further, U.S. energy officials have taken on the V.I. as a project to help the territory achieve a sustainable energy system.
Renewable energy – principally solar and wind power – can help reduce fuel use about 22 percent, Knight said. This involves WAPA changing the way it produces electricity and consumers taking advantage of proven technologies. The Energy Office provides rebates for solar water heating systems and photovoltaic cells which produce energy from the sun’s rays. night added his office is finalizing contracts for surveying the wind potential of the islands. While it seems like the wind is a constant, very small changes in location and topography can make a big difference in whether a plot of land is a viable wind power site. Two areas – one on the south side of St. Croix and another on the south side of St. Thomas, hold potential for a commercial grade wind farm, he added.
Energy conservation isn’t as exciting or interesting as new technologies, Knight said, but it actually promises to provide a much bigger portion of the targeted reduction in fuel usage.
Merchants and commercial buildings hold the greatest potential for reduction, he said, because people will do things in their businesses it wouldn’t occur to them to do at home. The Energy Office has programs for both businesses and homes to identify how to cut their energy use, lowering their WAPA bills and saving on the use of oil.
Little things that the audience members have heard many times can add up to big savings, he said, including replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, putting in low-flow shower heads and faucets, putting a timer on the water heater (if the heater hasn’t already been replaced by a solar system,) making sure all appliances are Energy Star rated, and unplugging "energy vampires” – chargers and other items that draw power even when they’re not in use.
With the community’s support, the territory will be able to reach the ambitious goal of cutting fossil fuel usage by 25 percent, and the savings in the cost of electricity will make the economy more robust.
“We’re well on our way to achieving that target," Knight said. "We do have a plan, and we have very clear goals."
