A-listers vacationing in St. Barts this week arrived to find “rolling electric blackouts across the island due to issues at its tiny power plant,” an insider told us.
The island paradise regularly plays home for the holidays to A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, Heidi Klum, Tom Brady, Natalie Portman, Mike Tyson and more.
Says the insider of the power issues: “They are vowing to have it repaired by Thanksgiving. As their profits depend on the spend of the flock. But it’s a flashing danger sign.”
A local paper reported late last week: “The ‘rotating’ power outages implemented by [power company] EDF due to the shutdown of the two main generators at the Public power plant are expected to continue for about three more weeks. Emergency generators are scheduled to be delivered to Saint Barth before this weekend.”
One renter this week told us of the power cuts in four hour shifts by area: “It took the island by surprise. When we landed… half the airport was without power. Electric and water went off in our rental, and only then did we learn what was happening. We had a reservation for dinner that night and showed up to find a closed restaurant.”
Others had more immediate issues: “This is unacceptable! We’ve had babies in the heat for four hours,” one commenter posted on Facebook page, while another added, “What are we going to do with the food in our freezers? It already costs an arm and a leg to begin with—this is getting awful.”
One annoyed VIP compared the situation to “North Korea,” while another told us, “Wags on the island express deep concern that villa occupants will abandon St. Barts if told they must stop heating their swimming pools even when air temperatures approach 90 degrees, and owners will balk when told they should stop 24/7 air conditioning in empty villas sitting waiting for clients who can afford to rent for $100,000 a week!”
(A local power exec commented in the press of the need to curtail power usage: “Air conditioning and pool pumps are the two major areas where usage should be limited. If everyone makes an effort, we’ll see the results.”)
One high-level hotel worker told us of the complicated situation, “I’ve been living here since 2011 — I came when island life was still cool, a Caribbean vibe. But… since [guests are] coming more and more from St-Tropez and all those places which to me have the wrong mentality… it has become almost impossible to find a house for a normal price,” and that increased high-end tourism has been contributing to the issues.
Said an objective insider: “This is the essential conflict: Do you try to keep the fruit healthy and sustainable, or squeeze it for all the juice you can get from it? Unfortunately, lately, the squeezers are winning.”
Michael Gross, author of the 2026 tome, “Treasured Island: The Story of St. Barth… and Its Barbarians, Billionaires, and Beauties,” which details the glam history of the place, told us, “Anyone who mourns the loss of the old St Barth can see that’s both good and bad this week. [Beach spot] Ti St Jean, where normally, three day clubs blast competing pop music and bucket list yahoos pour drunk into the sea, resembles what it once was, an idyllic, empty stretch of perfect beach. Parking is easy. So are restaurant reservations. But the rolling blackouts remind [us] that a high price has been paid for the isle of billionaires’ success. Development has so outpaced infrastructure that this paradise appears near to unsustainable.”
Stay tuned…