WAPA has rescheduled the planned Feeder 13 bypass outage for Sunday, September 13, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., weather permitting. The earlier August 30 work window did not proceed.
The interruption is expected to affect customers served by Feeders 9E, 8E, 7E, 9C, 7C, 10B, the Mall feeder and part of Feeder 7B from Raphune Hill to Tabor and Harmony. WAPA describes the affected area as the eastern portion of St. Thomas and all of St. John.
Crews plan to complete remaining work needed to place the new bypass into service. The alternate transmission path is designed to give operators another way to support the district when the existing Feeder 13 underground line is unavailable for maintenance, emergencies or equipment problems.
The project represents about two years of planning, engineering and construction and is supported by approximately $17 million in FEMA assistance. WAPA estimates it will improve operating flexibility for roughly 37,600 customers across the St. Thomas-St. John district.
Customers should charge essential devices, protect sensitive equipment and make plans for medical or business needs before 11 a.m. Sunday. Because the work is weather dependent, residents should check WAPA's official channels before the outage window begins.
WAPA should publish an island-level outage map, feeder lookup and same-day completion notice, then confirm when the bypass has been energized and explain how it performed during commissioning.
Source published September 9, 2026. Read the original reporting or release for the complete record.
Open original source