Last Updated: February 16, 2023

Overview

The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, became a U.S. territory in 1917 and is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 1,100 miles southeast of Miami, Florida.^1,2 The USVI has no fossil energy reserves, but does have some renewable resources, particularly solar energy.^3,4,5 The USVI imports petroleum products to meet nearly all of its energy needs, including the fuels to operate vehicles and boats, to generate electricity, and to run the ocean water desalination plants that produce its public water supply.^6,7,8,9

The USVI consists of four main islands that have a total area of 133 square miles, about twice the size of Washington, DC. The islands are hilly and forested. With limited land suitable for farming, the territory imports most of its food.¹⁰ The largest island is St. Croix. It lies about 40 miles south of the territory's three other inhabited islands: St. John, St. Thomas, and Water Island. The highest peak in the USVI is Crown Mountain, at nearly 1,600 feet, on St. Thomas.¹¹ The territory's population was estimated at about 87,000 in 2021.¹² Most of the USVI's population is evenly divided between St. Thomas and St. Croix, with each home to about 48% of the territory's residents. St. John has about 4%, and less than 200 people live on Water Island.^13,14

Located between the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the west and the British Virgin Islands to the east, the USVI has a subtropical climate with easterly trade winds and little seasonal variation in its warm temperatures. The Caribbean hurricane season, which runs from June to November, sometimes brings destructive storms.¹⁵ On average, a hurricane passes near the USVI every three years, and one directly hits the islands about every eight years. In September 2017, the USVI was struck by two back-to-back storms, Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which were both category 5 hurricanes with sustained winds of more than 156 miles per hour. The hurricanes significantly damaged most of the USVI's electric distribution and transmission lines and also damaged several power generating facilities.^16,17

Tourism, trade, and service industries account for about three-fifths of the USVI's GDP, and government spending accounts for about one-third. Manufacturing was second only to tourism in economic importance until the February 2012 closure of the Hovensa crude oil refinery on St. Croix. The islands' leading economic activity is tourism, which typically brings in between 2.5 million and 3 million visitors a year, although tourism declined following the two destructive 2017 hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. Manufacturing is now focused on rum distilling, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.^18,19 The USVI's per capita energy consumption is about one-fourth higher than the 50 U.S. states.^20,21

Petroleum

The USVI has no known crude oil reserves and does not produce crude oil, although a U.S. Geological Survey assessment in 2013 identified the potential for undiscovered crude oil resources in a subsea formation south of the islands.^22,23 The Hovensa refinery on St. Croix, once one of the 10 largest crude oil refineries in the world, was a substantial part of the USVI's economy and provided most of the islands' petroleum products until it was shut down in 2012.²⁴ The refinery reopened in February 2021 to produce marine fuel that meets new international low-sulfur requirements that took effect in 2020. When the refinery went back online it was able to process about 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day, less than half the 500,000 barrels per day that were previously refined. However, regulators shut down the refinery a few months later after it polluted nearby homes and drinking water. The refinery was sold in the fall of 2021 to two new companies that want to restart it. In November 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the refinery's owners to obtain a new air pollution permit before the facility could resume operations.^25,26,27

Nearly all of the energy consumed in the USVI is provided by imported petroleum products.²⁸ Distillate fuel oil and residual fuel account for about 70% of all petroleum products consumed in the USVI, where they are used for electricity generation and in the production of drinking water supplies. Jet fuel, propane, motor gasoline, and kerosene make up the remaining 30% of the island's petroleum consumption.²⁹ The islands' Water and Power Authority (WAPA) utility converted some of its fuel oil-powered generating units to propane, which make the units less expensive to operate and also help the utility meet clean air quality requirements.^{30,31,32,33,34}

Electricity

The USVI has two separate electricity grids, one each on the two main islands, each with its own generating facilities, managed by WAPA, an independent governmental agency. Generating capacity includes combustion and steam turbines powered with fuel oil or propane, as well as some solar power facilities owned by independent power producers (IPPs) and residents with customer-sited rooftop solar panels. More than half of the USVI's petroleum-fueled generating units are more than 25 years old. WAPA is replacing some of its older generators with groups of smaller units for more efficient balancing with renewable energy sources. Seabed depth makes any potential electrical connection between the St. Thomas and St. Croix systems difficult. The St. Thomas electric system, with about 175 megawatts of generating capacity, supplies electricity to St. Thomas as well as both nearby St. John Island and Water Island by underwater cables. Separated from the St. Thomas system by 40 miles of ocean, the St. Croix system, with about 150 megawatts of capacity, supplies St. Croix Island. The electric systems on both islands have lower power demand than their generating capacities, giving them their own backup generation capacity and reserves.^35,36,37

During the back-to-back hurricanes in September 2017, 80% to 90% of the USVI's transmission and distribution systems were damaged or destroyed.³⁸ To mitigate future disruption of the islands' grids, WAPA added backup generating units that include battery storage.^39,40,41 The territory is also building underground electrical lines and installing composite electrical poles that can survive winds up to 200 miles per hour. As of September 2022, WAPA installed about three-fourths of the planned 8,500 composite poles across the territory, and plans to finish the project in early 2024.^42,43,44,45

In 2021, the industrial sector consumed about 43% of the USVI's total electricity, followed closely by the residential sector at 41%, and the commercial sector at 16%.⁴⁶ Imported petroleum products fuel nearly all of the electricity generation on the islands. In 2022, propane generated about two-thirds of the islands' electricity from WAPA-owned or leased generating facilities, fuel oil accounted for about one-third, and solar power was about 3%. However, diesel fueled-generation increased at the end of 2022 after WAPA's propane supplier suspended fuel deliveries over a financial debt dispute with the utility.^47,48,49 The USVI has some of the highest electricity rates in the world, in part because of petroleum fuel surcharges. The islands' residential electricity price in early 2022 was about 41 cents per kilowatthour (which included a fuel surcharge of 22 cents per kilowatthour), almost three times higher than the U.S. residential average electricity price of about 15 cents kilowatthour.^50,51,52

After petroleum prices increased in 2008, WAPA explored converting its generating facilities to operate on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), but the utility opted to go with propane because it was less expensive to build the storage facilities and other infrastructure needed for propane compared with LNG.^53,54 The turbine conversions increased the fuel flexibility for WAPA's generators, and allow several of them to use propane, fuel oil, or natural gas.^55,56 WAPA says the increased propane use is expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions at generating plants by 35%, help the USVI meet clean air standards, and reduce future fuel surcharges. However, the utility has come under criticism because fuel conversion projects have taken longer than expected to complete, costs have exceeded original estimates, and residential electricity prices remain high.^57,58,59,60

Renewable energy

In 2020, less than 10% of the USVI's electricity generating capacity was fueled by renewable sources of energy, all of it solar power. Customer-installed, small-scale rooftop panel systems account for about four-fifths of USVI's solar generating capacity, while the other one-fifth comes from utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger) solar energy facilities.⁶¹ In 2009, the USVI's legislature approved a renewables portfolio target for renewable energy sources to fuel 25% of WAPA's peak demand generating capacity by 2020, 30% by 2025, and 50% by 2044.^62,63

The USVI has significant solar power on its islands, with more than 8 megawatts of installed large-scale solar power generating capacity.^64,65 The USVI's first large solar facility was a 450-kilowatt, 1,800-panel array installed in 2011 at King Airport on St. Thomas.⁶⁶ The territory's largest solar facility is the Donoe solar farm on St. Thomas, which first came online in 2015 with 4.2 megawatts of generating capacity. Hurricane Irma destroyed much of the Donoe solar farm in September 2017. The private company that owns the solar farm finished rebuilding it in 2022 with 14,000 solar panels, a larger generating capacity of 6.4 megawatts, and the ability to withstand winds up to 180 mph. The solar panels have stronger clamps and bolts holding them to the reinforced mounting systems, which have support piles that were installed deeper into the ground.^67,68

The Spanish Town solar farm, which opened on St. Croix in 2014 with 4 megawatts of generating capacity, was also damaged by Hurricane Irma. The facility was offline for slightly more than a year while it and the island's grid were repaired. The solar farm came back online in November 2018. As with Donoe, the Spanish Town facility is privately owned and WAPA purchases its power.^69,70,71 Additional solar and wind generating capacity, along with battery energy storage systems, are under construction or planned, including a 10-megawatt solar project at a marine terminal in St. Croix.^72,73,74 The Virgin Islands Public Service Commission approved in September 2022 two large solar farms on St. Croix, with each providing 10 megawatts of solar power and 80 megawatts of battery storage, and one solar farm on St. Thomas with about 5 megawatts of generating capacity and 80 megawatts of battery storage.⁷⁵ Customer-sited, small-scale solar generation on rooftops also provides about 17 megawatts of generating capacity through WAPA's net metering program.⁷⁶

Because of concerns about grid stability with intermittent generation from renewables, the USVI's net metering law initially capped total net metered connections at 10 megawatts on the St. Thomas grid and 5 megawatts on the St. Croix system. Those limits were reached in 2017, and the program closed to new customers. However, in 2019, the islands' governor initiated a new net-metering program that allows more residents to participate, but requires new customers to receive less compensation for their excess power and pay higher grid-access fees.^77,78,79,80 In 2022, the USVI government launched a pilot program to provide loans up to $30,000 to homeowners so they can install rooftop solar panel and battery storage systems. Homeowners repay the loans over 15 years, with the monthly loan payment added to their electric bills.⁸¹ The government also provides rebates for residential solar water heaters, Energy Star appliances, and other energy efficient and renewable energy products.^82,83 Since 2009, USVI's building code requires that solar water heaters provide at least 70% of a building's water heating needs in all new construction and major renovation projects.⁸⁴

The USVI has some commercial wind energy potential, but no utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger) wind generating capacity has been installed. The most promising locations for large wind projects are on the islands' high ridges and exposed capes.^85,86,87 A 2014 study found that wind speeds were suitable for commercial-scale turbines at sites around Longford on St. Croix and the Bovoni Peninsula on St. Thomas.⁸⁸ By mid-2024, WAPA plans to install 16.5 megawatts of wind generating capacity on St. Croix and 12 megawatts on St. Thomas.^89,90,91 In 2022, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that was signed into law opening the offshore waters around the USVI, along with the other U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, to wind power development. The U.S. Department of the Interior will hold wind lease sales in the territories' waters by September 2025, depending on interest from energy companies.⁹²

The USVI also considered developing other renewable generation using waste-to-energy, landfill gas, and biomass energy.^93,94 Studies estimate that combustion of landfill waste could provide up to 8 megawatts of generating capacity and also reduce waste volumes, but proposals for waste-to-energy plants at landfills on St. Thomas and St. Croix have been deemed too costly.^95,96

Natural gas

The USVI does not produce natural gas and has no known natural gas reserves. However, a 2013 U.S. Geological Survey assessment identified the potential for undiscovered natural gas resources in the same subsea formation south of the islands that may also contain petroleum resources.^97,98 To reduce dependence on petroleum fuels, island officials considered ways to import liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, the islands' small energy demand makes building an LNG import terminal difficult to justify economically.⁹⁹ The territory's electric utility considered converting its generators to burn LNG but opted for less costly propane.¹⁰⁰ Some of the utility's generators are now tri-fuel capable and can burn propane, natural gas, or petroleum products.¹⁰¹

Coal

The USVI has no known coal reserves and does not produce or use coal.¹⁰²

Endnotes

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³ U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Virgin Islands Territory Energy Profile, Reserves, accessed January 17, 2023.
⁴ U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USVI Energy Road Map, Charting the Course to a Clean Energy Future, p. 8-10.
⁵ U.S. EIA, U.S. Energy Atlas, All Energy Infrastructure and Resources, U.S. Virgin Islands, accessed February 8, 2023.
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