WAPA BILL

Go past the Crown Bay Marina and past the new Cruise Ship Terminal and stores with the windmill. WAPA is at the end of block, across street from intersection.

it continually annoys me that the governor and congresswoman have made no attempt to seek help from washington for what i consider our "electricity crisis" in the virgin islands. i know there is always big resistence to federal interference in the virgin islands but this is DIRECTLY killing the people and the economy of these islands!! but then again,the government doesn't pay its wapa bills and the government ,who has no business running an electrical powerplant,might lose control of it.

AGREED!

sadly to say...

wapa will be the reason for the slow death of the u s v i

the elected politicians are IDIOTS, "ie" .... "chucky" throwing parties to buy votes... and to think the local government can run a power company is crazy

most that i have encountered can not put 2 sentences together in proper english

wapa will continue to go up which means.. food and other essentials just to get by will increase as well

more business will close , more people will leave

have seen many many people leave already that were not hovensa employees

really to bad...

making my exit plan as well after all these years i have lived here

Go past the Crown Bay Marina and past the new Cruise Ship Terminal and stores with the windmill. WAPA is at the end of block, across street from intersection.

The New WAPA offices are at Beltjen Place at the foot of Bluebeards Hill at the 3 way light and intersection of Lovers Lane and the waterfront highway just North of Yacht haven Grand. I am not sure what offices are still extent at the Sub Base building.

know what you mean stx. hopefully right behind ya

Go past the Crown Bay Marina and past the new Cruise Ship Terminal and stores with the windmill. WAPA is at the end of block, across street from intersection.

The New WAPA offices are at Beltjen Place at the foot of Bluebeards Hill at the 3 way light and intersection of Lovers Lane and the waterfront highway just North of Yacht haven Grand. I am not sure what offices are still extent at the Sub Base building.

I didn't realize they moved so good update.

There's a really nice website www.michaelbluejay.com that includes a calculator where you select the appliance type, cost of the kWh, and how often you use the appliance and it calculates for you the price per month and year. There is a real difference between CFL and incandescent bulbs and a big difference between new and old appliances! Try it! Maybe everyone is using more than they think. Maybe investing in new appliances and solar for at least your rechargeable items may save a lot of money. Hang in there people.

There's a really nice website www.michaelbluejay.com that includes a calculator where you select the appliance type, cost of the kWh, and how often you use the appliance and it calculates for you the price per month and year. There is a real difference between CFL and incandescent bulbs and a big difference between new and old appliances! Try it! Maybe everyone is using more than they think. Maybe investing in new appliances and solar for at least your rechargeable items may save a lot of money. Hang in there people.

maria, I was thinking about getting solar charger for my stuff that sucks energy while charging. Do you have one you use and like? There are so many to choose from, I cannot make up my mind.

Unfortunately, I don't have one. I currently live in NYC and we don't have too many sunny days and my electrical is included in my maintenance fee. I always use cnet.com to review possible choices. They're usually spot on.
If it makes all feel better on this post, it's currently snowing in NYC. Wish I was on a beach right now.

Anyone have any good referals for a water heater timer that works really well and has battery back up so when power goes off, it doesn't throw the timer off?

Before you invest the money in a heavy duty 220V clock switch look at the cost of a tankless on demand water heater. They can save you up to 30% on electrical energy used to heat water and the cost won't be much more than a clock switch and the installation.

how bout sending our electric bills (copies) to CNN, Fox etc and show them what the island is paying, maybe they could shame our goverment nationally. just a thought.. course if your trying to sell here would not be a good selling point.

Our timer for a 40 gallon water heater was broken (did not rotate) for almost two years when we first moved here. I replaced it, set it for an hour per day, and we have never run out of hot water in the years since, except on the rare occasions that my wife takes a hot bath instead of a shower. However, I never saw a change in our average monthly electrical consumption either. Without a timer, your hot water heater has power supplied to the thermostat 24 hours per day. However, depending on how much hot water you use, your thermostat might only energize the heating elements (which is what actually uses electricity) for 15 to 20 minutes once or twice per day. So for us, it did not make a noticeable difference since our heating elements were evidently energized for less than an hour per day anyway. Hot water usage here is different from the average stateside numbers you typical see. The cold water we are heating up is 75 degrees or so in the first place, so it takes a lot less energy to heat it up to 120 degrees than if it was 40 or 50 degrees to start with. We take short showers to conserve water so you use a lot less hot water. And most take cool showers in the summer, using even less hot water. Water heaters are so well insulated now that if you turn off power to it the water can stay hot for days, particularly when the surrounding air temperature is 80 degrees versus 40 or 50 degrees. Quite a few people I know have put in solar heaters but I have yet to find anyone who has actually calculated how much they are saving per month, other than to say "how could I not be saving money". So I am not saying it is a waste of money to put a timer on or to go solar, just saying that the savings will probably not be that dramatic, even with our high cost per kilowatt.

Thanks for the info JimDandy and JE.
Anybody else have experience with battery timers vs tankless on demand systems for water heaters?
I can't really afford a solar setup just for hot water much less whole house as much as I'd like it.
My WAPA bill comes in this week and I just dread it, even tho it has been so wonderfully cool, I rarely now need to use the ceiling fans muchless A/C.

We just got our first WAPA bill yesterday since moving back to STX! We were prepared for the worse and went to bed celebrating. Actual bill was 67.89 but with LEAC the total came to 354.82!

When we moved we changed most bulbs! And unscrewed most of landscape lights. I only turn on one hot water heater for an hour every other day. The other one is never turned on. This is a hugh house and we run pool pump for 6 hours at night. I am very thankful that we live on top of a hill and can catch a good breeze somewhere in this house as it is "L" shaped, so, if breeze is coming in another direction, we can just move to that side of house. We spend most of our time at home when awake out in the covered outdoor area between the sections of the house where it is cool and now need a sweater at night!

Just happy our bill wasn't over 1K!!! We couldn't believe it!

So I've read a number of posts on WAPA, but everyone is talking in terms of kwh amounts. Can some of you provide an example of a monthly bill? Let's say you have a two bedroom apartment with A/C... what is the amount one can expect to pay per month?

If this seems like a rookie question, it is because I am moving to STT in April.

ppo

Well, I have no idea what people are doing to get their WAPA bills so high!

We installed solar recently but prior to the solar, our bills were between $160 and $210 per month.....tops! That was at $.43 per KWH.

We have 2 electric hot water heaters on no timer, a huge refrigerator, electric cloths dryer, a freezer, pool pump that runs 5 hours per day and the normal other lights, small appliances, ceiling fans, etc.

It sounds like solar is the way to go regarding energy conservation and reduction of energy costs, provided you own your residence and have the financial means to afford such an installation.

I am curious what a typical fee is for purchasing the necessary equipment, ie solar panels and such, and to hire someone for the installation, so I would appreciate any feedback from folks who are currently using solar.

Also, as I will be new to the island (moving there in March), I appreciate all of the tips regarding energy conservation, so please feel free to continue to chime in with any additional ideas you have.

We installed a whole house PV system and turned-it-up two weeks ago. We paid about $4 per installed watt and it looks like the payback period will be about 4 years. Maybe less and certainly less if WAPA rates keep increasing. (Of course if the Republicans have their way and kill the federal solar rebate, the payback period would be an extra year or two.)

Thanks for the info. Hopefully, the federal energy-efficiency tax credit will remain, as 30% of cost looks rather attractive.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully, the federal energy-efficiency tax credit will remain, as 30% of cost looks rather attractive.

We installed ours in May and to date have generated about 2200 KWH. We have 10 240W panels and 10 Microinverters.
We were using about 350KWH - 410KWH per month on average. So, as you can see, we are generating about 300KWH per month.
Our last 5 WPA bills have been in the 70-107KWH range.

Agree with rhstoo on the cost and projected payback. With the tax credit and the present production of the system, we are looking at about a 4 year payback.

I have noticed that we have had a lot of overcast days and that really makes a significant differenence in the KWH generation. It was much better in the May-October timeframe than now. Our panels are at 17 degrees and due south. It should begin to get better in the coming month.

The tax credit does assist with the cost but IMO the government should not be subsidizing this, or a lot of other things. We are broke!
I would have installed it regardless of the tax credit. It is just an added benefit.

we jsut installed a GEO THERMAL a/c unit. works great, water circulates through the swimming pool.

how bout sending our electric bills (copies) to CNN, Fox etc and show them what the island is paying, maybe they could shame our goverment nationally. just a thought.. course if your trying to sell here would not be a good selling point.

i really like your idea dixichick!!

lol dixie

So I've read a number of posts on WAPA, but everyone is talking in terms of kwh amounts. Can some of you provide an example of a monthly bill? Let's say you have a two bedroom apartment with A/C... what is the amount one can expect to pay per month?

If this seems like a rookie question, it is because I am moving to STT in April.

ppo

Well, I have no idea what people are doing to get their WAPA bills so high!

We installed solar recently but prior to the solar, our bills were between $160 and $210 per month.....tops! That was at $.43 per KWH.

We have 2 electric hot water heaters on no timer, a huge refrigerator, electric cloths dryer, a freezer, pool pump that runs 5 hours per day and the normal other lights, small appliances, ceiling fans, etc.

Well I'll tell you what we run that got our 21 day WAPA so HIGH!!!! We run only ONE of our two hot water heaters, one hour every or every other day. I use my dishwasher 2 times per week at night; I wash in HE washer, twice per week. I hang my wash on a clothes line to dry. We never turn on ceiling fans any time, period! I do not use air conditioners even though I have 8 in my house. We never turn on any lights during the day. Our 4 outdoor lights running from dusk 'til dawn are LED and low wattage at that! The other indoor lights we use in Kitchen, LR, BR are LED and ALWAYS off when we are not in room. TV RARELY turned on and off by power strip when not used! Pool pump on for 6 hours on timer, per night! We do cook a couple of times per week and use microwave as much as possible and unplugged when not being used, same with coffee maker...unplugged when not being used! I charge our cell phones and my IPad daily and unplug chargers when not using!

Now, mind you we are in a lease until May 2014... Yes, 14 and cannot install solar, so just what do you think I should be doing differently?

You said, recently installed, LEAC has gone up several times recently! Our bill was total, $358.!!!! THAT WAS JUST FOR 21DAYS! Should I be cooking on coal and reading by oil lamp? Geeze, get a grip, please, not everyone can afford solar or get permission to install from Landlord! Count you blessings and don't criticize those of us that aren't as fortunate as you are!

Your pool pump might be sucking amps. The one year we rented a house with a pool was our worst consumption by far.