Fortis Exit Raises Questions About Hydro’s Future in Belize

One big question everyone’s asking: why is Fortis pulling out of Belize? Could it be because hydro power is struggling, maybe climate change and droughts are taking a toll? Reporters even asked the Prime Minister if hydro still has a future here. So, what did he say? Here’s his response.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I want to make the point that Fortis the company has changed its strategy. They are moving away from production, to just distribution and transmission. They have been selling out all their plants in Canada. And, at the same time they have decided to move out of the region. Their first investment out of Canada was Belize and then they went to Turks and Cacus. They sold those operations and now also their strategy was to exit Belize because of the change in strategy of the company. It has nothing to do with climate change or nothing whatsoever. But like in everything a meteorite can hit Belize. These things exist in business. You make your projections and from the projections we can see that it is a safe investment and most importantly it is important for Belize to be able to be the true masters of their own of their energy. As it is right now, about seventy-eight percent of our energy is controlled by foreigners, about fifty percent from CFE and here we have now from Fortis Belize providing about a third. So, for us our strategy is to see how we can increase Belizean ownership in these very important assets.”