BEL Chairman Says Energy Security Requires Greater Investment and Ownership

In news in the energy news, Belize continues to rely heavily on imported electricity from Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad, commonly known as CFE, to meet national energy demands. While the arrangement has helped supplement local generation capacity, it also leaves Belize vulnerable to disruptions beyond its borders, as the supply depends on the reliable operation of infrastructure and generation systems in neighboring Mexico.  Speaking on the country’s energy challenges, Belize Electricity Limited Executive Chairman Lynn Young acknowledged that imported power remains a critical component of Belize’s energy mix. However, he noted that dependence on external sources highlights the need for greater investment and stronger participation in the utility sector.  Young explained that in recent years BEL has experienced financial losses and increasing operational pressures, prompting the Government of Belize to move toward acquiring additional shares in the company. The matter was brought before the House of Representatives earlier this month, through the Belize Electricity Investments Bill, 2026, which seeks to authorize government’s acquisition of more than eight million convertible redeemable preference shares in BEL.  The proposed legislation would authorize the Government of Belize to purchase 8,138,020 preference shares in Belize Electricity Limited and provide funding through the Consolidated Revenue Fund. According to the Prime Minister who made the presentation in the house meeting, the move is intended to strengthen the utility’s financial position and support future investments in energy infrastructure.

Lynn Young, Executive Chairman, Belize Electricity Limited: “We really haven’t added in country generation. So we’re now in a situation where without power from Mexico we don’t have enough capacity in country. So that affects us two ways. One is there were a couple times when CFE could not supply us because of the heat and the problems that they were having and because we didn’t have enough in country generation we had to have blackouts. I think that was a couple years ago. CFE is trying to address their situation but what happens is when CFE has challenges their prices go up significantly because they have to be running diesels to meet the load and so they charge us space on their marginal cost. So there were times when CFE prices to BEL, in fact this year, they had a couple instances where their prices to BEL was fifty cents US per kilowatt hour that’s like a dollar Belize per US per kilowatt hour and BEL is selling for forty four cents Belize per kilowatt hour. But we have to take it because we don’t have enough generation in country. If we had the generation in country we could have said well no thanks we’ll wait until the prices fall back.”

With the bill now been introduced in the House, it will proceed through the legislative process for further debate and consideration.