Congresswoman Plaskett, a Member of the House Ways and Means, Budget and Agriculture Committees, released the following statement concerning the letter requesting an investigation of the V.I. Water and Power Authority sent by four Republican Members of Congress:
“I find it concerning that these Members are requesting an investigation pertaining to WAPA’s acquisition and installation of four Wartsila generators, particularly since none of them have shown any interest or concern regarding our territory at any point. If these colleagues of mine are as concerned as they expressed in the letter, which contained a number of glaring fallacies (i.e., the Randolph Harley power plant is actually on St. Thomas and not on St. Croix, as the letter incorrectly states), the House Oversight Committee, of which they are members, has specific processes in place to obtain necessary information and push agencies and recipients to use funds appropriately.
“Additionally, the claim made in the letter that there is not an objective timeline of when the four generators will come online is false. Not only has WAPA’s CEO, Andrew Smith made numerous public statements about the generators coming online in March of 2023, but the initial term sheet and timeline discussed for the integrated resource plan for these generators made during the previous administration (2019) estimated almost two years to integration, and that forecast did not account for the delays that were inevitably created by the pandemic.
“I strongly believe that the letter sent by my Republican colleagues may be motivated by special interest groups assisting their own pecuniary interests by being destructive to the people of the Virgin Islands.
“I urge Virgin Islanders to do their own research on this issue and others in our community. Let us be certain that the information we acquire and share is fact-based and not perpetuated propaganda.”
Click here to read the letter requesting investigation of WAPA.