Virgin Islands Energy Office Helps Nonprofit Organizations Become Energy Efficient

Nonprofits save money with hundreds of compact fluorescent lamps.

December 2007

In October, the Virgin Islands Energy Office (VIEO) teamed with the V.I. Water and Power Authority (WAPA) to provide energy-efficient lights to needy nonprofit community organizations.

On October 19, VIEO audited the Lighthouse Mission, a shelter for homeless in Christiansted, for energy efficiency. VIEO staffs were able to put recommendations into immediate effect, thanks to WAPA. When VIEO staff found incandescent bulbs in nonprofit facilities during October Energy Awareness Month, WAPA offered to replace them with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).

The day before the Mission audit, VIEO took the lights to the Women's Coalition, a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Christiansted; My Brother’s Table in Frederiksted, which serves meals to the homeless, and the King's Hill School in Le Reine. Earlier in the month VIEO gave more than 200 energy-efficient lights to the Queen Louise Home for Children, an orphanage, as part of the Exchange a Light Campaign.

The first beneficiary of the partnership between WAPA and VIEO was the Elaine Ione Sprauve Library on the Island of St. John. Bevan R. Smith, VIEO director, said, "Changing light bulbs won't solve all our energy problems, but it shows that Virgin Islanders are going in the right direction."

Another beneficiary of the program was the Family Resource Center on St. Thomas. In November a donation of CFLs was being calculated for the new home in an old building for 10,000 Helpers, an organization that helps families in crisis. About 350 energy-efficient lights were given out during October.