A free backup battery program for medical equipment has reached 314 Virgin Islands households so far

Who qualifies for a free backup battery for medical equipment in the Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands Energy Office is giving away a free backup battery for medical equipment to residents whose health depends on a powered device, ahead of a hurricane season that regularly cuts electricity for days. The program, called the Virgin Islands Resiliency Gateway, launched in April 2026 with a target of 900 portable battery systems. Each system pairs with a 400 watt solar panel, a panel sized so a resident can recharge the battery without grid power, and a full charge provides up to a day of backup power, according to the Energy Office, source 1.

How far the program has reached so far

The Energy Office had placed 314 systems with recipients by July 28, 2026, a total this site calculated by adding 2 numbers the agency reported separately, 234 systems delivered to medically vulnerable households and 80 more allocated to Continuum Care Hospice and Home Health, a provider that cares for dying patients and for patients recovering at home, source 2. The Energy Office itself never states a running count against its 900 target, so 314 is this addition, not a figure the agency has published on its own.

The Energy Office also expects to distribute about 600 more systems through a second phase, a number the agency describes as a plan rather than a completed count, source 2.

Two different rules decide who qualifies

The Energy Office used 2 separate rules to choose recipients across the first 2 phases of the program, and they do not merge into 1 rule. In the first phase, the Department of Human Services identified households directly from its list of Medicaid participants who also had documented medical needs, source 2. Medicaid is government health insurance for residents with low incomes. That first phase set no age requirement. In the second phase, a public application round that opened August 3, 2026, the rule changed to a full time Virgin Islands resident, age 60 or older, who depends on critical electrically powered medical equipment, source 2, source 3.

For a resident who depends on a CPAP machine, an in-home hospital bed, refrigerated medication or another critical medical device, an electrical outage can quickly become a health emergency.

Kyle Fleming, Virgin Islands Energy Office Director. Source 2.

Demand for the public application round outpaced supply on day 1

On August 3, 2026, the first day the public application round opened, 527 residents applied, nearly matching the approximately 600 systems the Energy Office had planned to distribute through that round, source 2, source 3. All available systems for that phase were claimed before the day closed, and the Energy Office was no longer accepting applications for that round as of its August 5, 2026 update, source 3. A future round may open later, but a reader cannot apply today.

We expected strong interest in the VIRG Program, but receiving 527 applications on the first day exceeded our expectations.

Kyle D. Fleming, Virgin Islands Energy Office Director. Source 3.

Hurricanes routinely cut power across the territory for days at a time, which is why the Energy Office built the program around residents who cannot safely go without electricity, source 1.

For many medically vulnerable Virgin Islanders, losing electricity is not simply an inconvenience. It can become a life threatening emergency.

Governor Albert Bryan Jr., Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. Source 3.