Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands would like to connect their energy grids, and they’d like help from the US government to do it.
The two governments want to install a 50-mile undersea cable connecting the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to the USVI’s Water and Power Authority. Officials said the idea is attractive because PREPA can produce electricity more cheaply than WAPA and because of the recent closure of St. Croix’s HOVENSA oil refinery.
USVI Governor John de Jongh Jr. and his PR counterpart Luis Fortuño wrote on May 2 to David Agnew, the White House’s director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, asking the federal government to “provide leadership and interagency coordination” for the interconnection project.
The connection may be followed by 12-mile cable connecting St. Thomas and Tortola.
See the May 17, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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