GoB makes power move with purchase of Fortis electricity sector assets
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 16, 2025
There is big news coming out of Belize’s energy sector, as the Government of Belize (GoB) has worked out a deal to purchase Fortis Cayman Inc.’s 33.3% stake in Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), a move that would shift majority control of the national power company into public hands. Currently, the Government holds 32.58% of BEL’s shares, the Social Security Board (SSB) owns 31.27%, and over 1,500 small shareholders account for the remaining 2.58%. With the buyout, the country would become the dominant shareholder in the company. Fortis Cayman is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian utility giant Fortis Inc., which has held a significant share in BEL for decades.
While the share purchase agreement is significant, it’s not the headline: The Government has also negotiated the acquisition of the highly profitable Fortis Belize Ltd. (formerly BECOL) which owns and operates the three dams — Vaca, Mollejon and Chalillo — on the Macal River. The company’s earnings are reportedly in the tens of millions annually. The hydroelectric facilities supply up to 40% of the country’s electricity needs, making them a cornerstone of the national grid and a critical source of renewable energy.
In BEL’s case, despite the company posting a $9.7 million loss last year, it remains stable. For 8 of the 12 months that year, the company reported profits, and it says the overall loss was due to the volatility of the energy environment. In particular, BEL relies heavily on electricity imports from Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), which tends to be more expensive. As explained, though, the $9.7 figure represents the difference in the actual cost of power and what consumers pay for electricity. The loss is recovered through subsequent tariff revisions. For 2023, BEL reported a profit margin of 3%, down from 6% in 2022, 14% in 2021 and 20% in 2020, which reflected a strong performance prior to pandemic-related impacts.
As of December 2024, BEL employed 421 staff, up by 110 since 2016.
The motion is expected to be fast-tracked and taken through all stages at Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives and Monday at the Senate. In a statement today, the Government informed the public that funding for the acquisition will be sourced via a special budgetary appropriation. It also announced that the transactions should be completed no later than November 15, 2025. Thereafter, the Government intends to pursue a secondary domestic offering of equity and debt to recover the initial acquisition costs. While the Government’s release says the financial details will be revealed during tomorrow’s sitting, reports have already circulated that the total cost for shares and the power generation facilities will be close to a quarter billion Belize dollars.
The Government has indicated that BEL’s power purchase contracts for the Mollejon and Chalillo extend to 2050, while the contract for the Vaca dam extends to 2060.
The Government has emphasized that with its acquisition of the hydro plants, the company’s future profits will remain within the country. It adds, “Crucially, the Government intends to eliminate the annual increases in the cost of power sold by the hydro plants to BEL, and in so doing, provide a significant benefit for all consumers.” The intention is to establish a new company named Hydro Belize Limited under the leadership of CEO Kay Menzies. The interim board is to be chaired by Ambassador Lynn Young, who has worked both at BEL and Fortis Belize. Fortis Belize employs 48 staff members, all of whom are Belizean. In August 2024, Fortis Belize president and CEO, Kay Menzies spoke about a proposal that had been submitted for an EIA review earlier that year for a 10-megawatt solar energy project that would add more capacity to the national grid.
It has been reported that the Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, met with the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Tracy Panton, on Wednesday to seek bipartisan support for the motion. We sought comment from Panton, and she issued a statement in which she indicated that the United Democratic Party’s Parliamentary Caucus has expressed serious concerns about the announcement. In the statement she questions: “Why the rush to finalize such a multi-million-dollar transaction without full disclosure to the Belizean people? Where is the independent valuation that provides the cost-benefit analysis to justify this massive undertaking? Where is the regulatory review that ensures due diligence has been observed? And where is the exit plan for the so-called ‘secondary domestic offering’; or, will this become yet another opportunity for politically connected insiders to benefit from a public acquisition?” As to the special budgetary appropriation, Panton warns that it signals more debt at a time when the country can ill afford it.
Speaking about the acquisition today, PM Briceño reported that in May of this year, the vice president of Fortis paid him a visit and notified him that as part of their plan to move out of the Caribbean, they were planning to sell Fortis Belize to a company based in Honduras. Briceño said that he expressed disappointment that Fortis did not approach the Government of Belize first. Thereafter, according to the Prime Minister, Fortis agreed to meet, and negotiations ensued. He said that all the i’s have been dotted and the t’s crossed, and they are now seeking parliamentary approval for the purchase.
Asked about declining output from the dams due to climate change, the PM explained, “Fortis, the company, has changed its strategy. They are moving away from production to just transmission and distribution. They have been selling out all of their plants in Canada.”
