Tag: st croix

Plans Underway to Create USVI’s First Territorial Park System

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Mandahl Beach

The establishment and enforcement of a territorial park system could be the solution for disappearing green spaces in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and lawmakers are optimistic that fashioning a specific division to oversee its creation will enhance local and tourism opportunities for the territory.

Last week, senators forwarded Bill No. 34-0267 — sponsored by Senator Samuel Carrion — that will transfer authority from the Department of Sports, Parks, and Recreation (DSPR) to a division within the Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) to ensure the designation of various recreational spaces across the territory. 

If the bill passes the full body of legislators, DPNR will be expected to establish a Division of Territorial Parks whose duty will include the conservation and protection of unique habitats and ecosystems, as well as the cultural and historical resources of the Virgin Islands.

The division will operate a territory-wide system of parks and recreation programs that will enhance outdoor recreational activities such as camping, picnicking, hiking, biking, horseback riding, environmental education, sightseeing, boating, fishing, swimming, and similar recreational activities.

According DPNR Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol, the department will be asked to formulate and put into execution a long-range, comprehensive conservation plan and program to acquire privately and publicly-owned properties that are suitable for development as parks or protected areas.

Vincent Richards, deputy commissioner of Dept. of Property and Procurement, said his team has already identified 43 government-owned properties which they believe can be developed for recreational use. They include 30 properties on St. Thomas, three on St. John and 10 on St. Croix.

Mr. Richards told lawmakers this is just a “starting list” as DPP plans to propose additional properties to place into the system for designation.

If the bill passes, DPNR will be responsible for Territorial Parks and Protected Areas whereas the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation will maintain responsibility for neighborhood parks and other areas for individual recreational use.

DSPR Commissioner Calvert White supported the bill, explaining that implementing this legislation would allow DSPR to focus primarily on its sporting and recreational facilities while still giving full support to DPNR.

A Territorial Parks System Revolving Fund and a Recreational Parks Revolving Fund will also be established to support the work of DPNR and DSPR.

“It is necessary. We don’t want to become a concrete jungle,” remarked Senator Novelle Francis Jr. He was supported by six other senators as well as non-committee member Senator Kurt Vialet.
Plans Underway to Create USVI’s First Territorial Park System (viconsortium.com)

Bryan Announces Plan to Make St. Croix 100 Percent Solar-Powered in Months, Saying Rising Cost of Fuel Threatens Economy

In what would amount to one of the boldest moves in USVI government history with far-reaching impacts affecting almost every facet of life, Governor Albert Bryan on Monday announced that he plans on making St. Croix 100 percent solar-powered in a number of months by partnering with a major energy firm that could build and maintain a solar plant powerful enough to easily energize the 84-square mile island.

“We want to put St. Croix 100 percent solar and put as much solar as we can in as quickly as possible. If we have one island that’s burning the least amount of fuel possible that’s a huge solution  for us,” the governor said.

If accomplished, the result would be drastically lower utility bills on the Big Island, as St. Croix is called, and among the byproducts of this reality would be a ricocheting of price reductions across industries and sectors as firms small and big save money on utilities. It would also mean more disposable income for Virgin Islanders who pay hundreds of dollars monthly to WAPA, hence stirring economic growth.

Mr. Bryan sees the current high price of oil caused by Russian’s war in Ukraine and U.S. inflation, as portending a catastrophic situation identical to the 2008 V.I. Water and Power Authority crisis. At the time, crude oil had risen above $146 a barrel and WAPA was completely reliant on fossil fuel. Therefore, as the price surged, so too did utility costs in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Getting something done and getting it down quickly, that’s the kind of situation we’re in,” the governor said Monday. “I told my people think about it as we need to get the whole island energized in 90 days…  That’s the kind of urgency we’re under here because we cannot afford for the light bills to go where they were in 2008, 2009. It crippled our economy, crippled our small businesses — we have to figure this out and we have to do it quickly.”

The cost of fuel, already up 45 percent for the year, continues to fluctuate based on developments in Ukraine. On Monday morning, the price of Brent Crude, which is the global benchmark, fell by $4 a barrel to $108.55 following news that Russia was willing to have substantive discussions about its war in Ukraine. If those talks fail and the situation on the ground escalates, the price of oil could surge further. If the talks go well, the price could tumble. Last week the price of oil closed above $130 a barrel.

In order to accomplish his goal, Mr. Bryan said swift action is needed, and this might come by means of an energy state of emergency declaration to push aside regulatory hurdles and other government red tape. “The way we’re looking at this is the same way we looked at the whole grid being out after the [2017 storms]. Like this is an emergency situation so normal timelines don’t apply. I’ve given serious consideration to declaring an energy emergency so that we could fast-track any bidding process, fast-track any permitting process and get somebody in here and get it up as quickly as possible,” Mr. Bryan said when queried by the Consortium for a timeline.

The governor said he has tasked the V.I. Energy Office and WAPA officials to lead the charge in examining potential opportunities and routes for Mr. Bryan’s vision. The governor mentioned Siemens Energy, for example, as a firm with the wherewithal to deliver the desired outcome. Siemens Energy provides power generation, power transmission, renewable energy, industrial applications, services and storage solutions, according to a description on the firm’s website.

“We’ve been trying to do it with our own resources; one thing is to go immediately out to RFP [request for proposal] and look for a big manufacturer like Siemens [Energy] or one of the other big ones to come in and build the whole thing for us and then sell us back the power,” said the governor. “That would save us tons of money perpetually if we do that.”

Mr. Bryan said the plan would include a negotiated buyout “after a certain number of years so we could eventually own the solar facility.”

Another part of addressing the increases in utility costs is the “fast-tracking of the batteries at all our solar facilities,” the governor stated.

As for why St. Croix is being prioritized, Mr. Bryan said, “The reason why we’re looking at St. Croix is because it’s the easiest in terms of topography. We already had a 25 megabit plant that we were looking to install here, so it’s just fast-tracking everything.”

Mr. Bryan spoke of traveling to Washington for discussions with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. He also said he would meet with the V.I. Legislature in the spirit of collaboration. “There are things we can do without them but we prefer a collaborative approach to this,” he said.

At the end of his press briefing, the governor sought to reassure Virgin Islanders. “Don’t panic yet, we have this under control,” he said, “We got some options and some resources…. As we go into summer people will be using more energy, but rest assured we are working to get you there and we’re going to figure this out.”

Bryan May Declare Energy State of Emergency Tied to WAPA as Fuel Costs Increase; Other Price Mitigation Measures Being Taking; Battery Systems Under Consideration

The V.I. Water and Power Authority’s Richmond powerplant on St. Croix. By ERNICE GILBERT/ V.I. CONSORTIUM

Governor Albert Bryan may declare an energy state of emergency tied to the V.I. Water and Power Authority, an action the governor said is being weighed because of the unprecedented increase in the cost of fuel being driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking during an interview with the Consortium Sunday, Mr. Bryan said residents feeling pain at the pump would also see shocking increases in their electricity bills by way of the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause, or LEAC, which is the cost of fuel to WAPA that is passed on to consumers.

Mr. Bryan described the increases in electricity bills as “imminent” and said his administration has been thinking of different ways to offset the cost. “We were set before to do it but this new development in Ukraine is a whole different ball game now. We were not expecting gas prices to increase by 30 to 40 percent,” he said.

The governor said while gas prices show the most immediate impact, other areas of the economy will be affected because of the importance of fuel in commerce. “We’re working on some plans now to determine what we’re going to do to respond on a whole, because it’s not only gas, it’s going to be reflected in food as well because transportation and energy cost more. So everything is going to increase as a result of this,” he said.

The governor said most of the plans to mitigate costs will focus on WAPA. “We cannot have the energy rate go to where it was before. And depending on what happens we might have to declare some kind of energy emergency,” the governor stated, though he had yet to decide what the declaration would entail.

The territory’s leader said he had given directives to WAPA leadership and the V.I. Energy Office asking for ideas on fuel cost mitigation, and said responses were due Monday. The governor referred to the fuel prices as “absolutely ridiculous.”

Currently, motorists on St. Croix are paying on average $4.50 for a gallon of unleaded regular gas; on St. Thomas some gas stations are selling a gallon of unleaded regular at $6, and St. John $5.

Other smaller actions currently being taken include the promotion of the use of electric vehicles. Mr. Bryan said he was “trying to get people off these gas guzzlers and get in line with what the president is doing, we’re doing the same thing.” He said he had a brief conversation with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during a trip to Washington, where the two discussed the U.S. Virgin Islands being a great location for renewable energy demonstration projects. Mr. Bryan did acknowledge that such efforts were far off. “We need immediate assistance,” he said.

Additionally, the governor lamented spending the territory’s funds on stop-gap projects. “When I invest our money, I want to see projects that’s going to have long-lasting impacts. You know, I pay $20 million and then I don’t have nothing to show for it; all I did was buy fuel,” Mr. Bryan said, giving an example of what might happen if he were to simply subsidize the cost of fuel.

The cost of fuel, already up 45 percent for the year, continues to fluctuate based on developments in Ukraine. On Monday morning, the price of Brent Crude, which is the global benchmark, fell by $4 a barrel to $108.55 following news that Russia was willing to have substantive discussions about its war in Ukraine. If those talks fail and the situation on the ground escalates, the price of oil could surge further. If the talks go well, the price could tumble. Last week the price of oil closed above $130 a barrel.

The governor also pointed to solar energy plants powered by battery systems, the most popular being Tesla’s Power Electronics which has a high range of scalability. “The Powerpack system scales to the space, power and energy requirements of any site, from small commercial businesses to regional utilities. It can be configured in various arrangements, offering far more modularity than competing models,” reads a description of the system on Tesla’s website.

“If we could get the battery systems in that would help a lot,” Mr. Bryan said.

Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett in December 2019 called on Governor Bryan to declare WAPA a state of emergency, albeit regarding a different matter. At the time, the authority’s financial blunders had plunged the territory into a crisis situation, and Ms. Plaskett’s statement came one day after WAPA’s liquid propane supplier had suspended delivery of the crucial fuel source to the territory. At the time, Mr. Bryan agreed WAPA was in a crisis situation, but he was against the state of emergency declaration, stating that it would have “zero effect.”

On Sunday, Mr. Bryan — seeing firsthand the impact of the rising cost of fuel to consumers — kept the option open.

Why Live in the Virgin Islands?

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I am often asked where I am from, and when I reply that I live in the VIRGIN ISLANDS, a common reply is WHY?  Well, this is a pretty easy question to answer.  And trust me, this blog is not even remotely a complete answer.  But I thought it may be helpful to give some common answers- especially beneficial to those considering a move, second home, or investment property in the territory.

First of all, the weather in the USVI is ideal.  Our low temperature for the year is usually in the upper 60s, while the high rarely goes above 95.  So even in the summer, we don’t get the extreme high temperatures that many other places see, and we often have a nice breeze that doesn’t make those temperatures seem as hot as they are.  For months on end, our low temperatures are about 70 with high temps around 85.  Seriously, it may be as ideal as anywhere in the World.

Yes, we do have hurricanes.  And when they hit, it can be a bad situation.  Living here since 1991, I have been thru many storms.  But over that time, there were really only three “really bad” storms:  1995 brought Hurricane Marilyn, and then 2017 brought back to back storms (ten days apart) with Irma and Maria.  So when you really think about it, the serious storm hits are far less frequent than most people would imagine.  And when you compare it to other weather phenomena from various parts of the World, you realize there is risk all over the place- fires in CA, tornados in the Midwest, snow storms in the East, and more.

What is there to do though?  Well, we have lots of activities in the Virgin Islands.  Let’s start with the water sports- sailing, snorkeling, fishing, powerboating, surfing, wakeboarding, stand up paddleboarding and kayaking, scuba diving, and more.  Add that with beach relaxation, and you have uncovered some great leisure day options.  Unfortunately St Thomas only had one golf course, and it has been closed since the hurricanes- and we are hoping a new buyer gets the golf course open again.  But St Croix still offers golfing, so the opportunity is still there.  Of course St Thomas is especially well known for its shopping- with super great deals on jewelry.  The island is littered with fabulous restaurants- from small local outdoor eateries to fancy beachfront culinary masterpieces.  And along with the many restaurants are bars.  I won’t try to hide the fact that liquor is inexpensive in the USVI (no import duties on liquor) and bar hopping is very popular.  Locals play all sorts of sports- whether baseball, soccer, swimming, sailing, basketball, volleyball, and more.  There are ample hiking trails- especially on St John which is 2/3 National Park.  Bird watching is very popular and we have a large variety of species.  There is a lot of history here on island too, so ample places to learn about these things as part of your shopping and bar hopping days.  But there is so much more than what is mentioned in this paragraph.

But let’s get to why people choose to live where they do.  Weather and activities are certainly factors, but what about scenery?  We live in one of the most beautiful places in the World.  There are incredible views from most everywhere.  I have taken people on Real Estate tours, and at the first place they see, I’ll hear “this is the nicest view I have ever seen.”  By the third place, I have heard it again: “this view is even nicer than the first one”.  It just never ends.

And don’t forget the people.  I LOVE the people in the Virgin Islands.  If I did not feel this way, I never could have lived here since 1991.  If you walk into an office, you are greeted with a “good morning” or “good day” almost every time.  Just passing people on the street creates similar exchanges.  When I spend time in the States, and say “good morning” as I walk by somebody on the street, I usually get a funny glance versus a kind response like I receive in the Islands.  But it is not just the greetings that make the Islands special- it is the caring.  The USVI is a relatively small place where people know each other.  And when something unfortunate happens to one of our own, the entire community tends to rally together to help.  It is the primary reason we recover so quickly after a bad storm.  Everyone comes together as one for the better of the community.

You like know they are called the US Virgin Islands for a reason.  We are a US territory.  So as a resident I have a regular cell phone with a US area code and it is not like being out of the country.  I get regular mail service.  And I file a 1040 just like a US citizen (though it is filed with the USVI Bureau of Internal Revenue, not the IRS).  We are not allowed to vote for President of the US since we are not a State, and that is disappointing, but for most other reasons we are very similar to the US.

One negative I often hear about the USVI is the cost.  Yes, it is expensive here compared to many other locations.  Housing and food being two costs that are quite high.  This is not surprising since everything must be shipped to the islands.  But these high costs are offset in other ways.  First, earnings tend to be higher than Stateside locations.  Property taxes are very reasonable.  As previously mentioned, liquor is cheap.  And our Real Estate market has been very strong for decades- it did not crash like many large city markets in years past.

We at Real Solutions hope you can visit and learn about the Island Life in person.  We have no doubt you will enjoy your time here, and at least think about making it a permanent place to live.