Over the years, The Barbados Light & Power Company has built up a reputation for being a well-run utility, with wise forward planning ensuring that there will be enough capacity to meet anticipated consumer demand. Continuous improvement in quality control and monitoring systems ensures that power outages are few and far between. The Company has consistently achieved a performance level in which less than half of one percent of consumers' demand for electricity was not met due to unplanned power outages. This performance may be attributed to thorough planning, investment in reliable plant, improvement in work methods over the years, and careful cost controls.

Much thought and care go into deciding what equipment will be needed to replace plant being retired and to meet anticipated growth in consumer demand. The Company is also actively keeping track of research into non-fossil-fuel sources of energy such as wind, solar, bagasse and waste-to-energy technologies.

Under current law, only the BLPC is allowed to sell power to the general public. However, the effects of trade liberalization are already being seen in the telecommunications industry and the Company can expect there to be new forms of competition in the supply of electricity in the future. It is expected that the regulatory structure for utilities will move away from a standard rate of return model to one of virtual competition in which there are performance and incentive-based rates. The Barbados Light & Power Company is cooperating fully with the government as it makes these important changes to the regulatory framework and develops new regulations for utility companies.