Friday, June 19th, 2015. BMG: The Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday at the Radisson Fort George Hotel in Belize City to report to shareholders about the company
’s achievements and dividend payments for the year 2014. The biggest revelation to shareholders was net earnings of $36.2 million, resulting in $0.15 dividend payments per share for 2014, which is an 87.5% increase from 2013.
You may have noticed that power outages are now a rare occurrence, which can be accredited to the work BEL has done to reduce power interruptions by 51% in the last 5 years. The company has made another big improvement recently, reducing the mean electricity rate to $0.35 per kWh, making it the fifth consecutive time electricity rates have been lowered since 2013 and living up to BEL’s mission: “To provide reliable electricity at the lowest sustainable cost, stimulate national development and improve the quality of life in Belize”.
In addition to BEL’s achievements, 15 communities were given access to electricity last year, costing the company an investment of $23 million and Chief Executive Officer of BEL, Jeffrey Locke stated in a press release issued yesterday that: “BEL is now in a better position to increase investments in our infrastructure, services, employees and community,” suggesting that these types of investments by BEL, to improve the quality of life for Belizeans will continue.
The company plans to add 10,000 streetlights countrywide over the next three years and is also connecting 1,000 low income homes at a minimal cost to homeowners who cannot afford the standard connection cost. 2014 was seen as a very successful year for BEL but the company is confident that its workforce will push even harder to achieve its vision of being a model of excellence.