In 1936, the year before the disturbance, which opened the pathway to the modern history of Barbados, the BESC got its original franchise extended to cover the remainder of the island on a non-exclusive basis.

By that time, the Company had acquired five vehicles. By 1940, the total capacity of the BESC was 2,000 kW, but by 1955 it had tripled to 7,044 kW, with peak demand on the system totalling 4,200 kW.

In 1955, The Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd. (BL&P) was formed to take over the local assets of the BESC, which remained as a holding company in London.

Half a million 5 1/2% shares were offered to Barbadians and the issue was oversubscribed. That same year Hurricane Janet devastated the island, causing severe dislocation to the operations of the Company.

But the Company recovered and in 1958 its first 2,500 kilowatt steam turbo alternator was installed.

As demand grew, the Company found its existing plant could not cope and in 1959 then Premier Grantley Adams threatened to nationalize it, but never did, although a one-man Commission of Enquiry was set up.

Ken Blackman recalled that the Company kept working hard to make things go smoothly, experimenting with various different engines. "At 11 o'clock each morning I would have to go down to Bay Mansion to take out (disconnect) Bridgetown. People knew not to go into an elevator after 10:50 a.m." The Company and its employees toiled through those "hard days of the fifties," taking the decision after much trial and error with equipment, to begin introducing steam turbines to its existing diesel plant and gradually came out of that difficult period.

In 1960, the BESC sold its shares in the Company to the Mitchell Engineering Group, also of the UK. and three years later control passed to the Canadian International Power Company.

By 1965, the Barbados Light & Power Company had 29,238 customers, and in the following year, it purchased a 5 1/2 acre site at Spring Garden, which would become its main generating station.

The Spring Garden Generating Plant went into operation in 1967 with five GM diesel generator sets and a peak capacity of 11,500 kW. Two Mirlees diesel sets were added to Spring Garden at a cost of Bds. $4 million.

This extension was officially opened in 1969 by then Prime Minister Errol Barrow. The extension added another 9,000 kW of power to meet the demand of a rapidly growing customer base, which now totalled 40,249; an increase of 10,000 customers- a 33% growth in just four years.