Posted: Friday, October 17, 2025. 2:15 pm CST.
By Aaron Humes: Prime Minister John Briceño introduced the Electricity Acquisition (Belize Hydroelectric Assets) Bill, 2025, today in the House of Representatives, seeking a budgetary supplemental allocation of US$110 million (BZ$220 million) to cover the repurchase of the Mollejon, Chalillo and Vaca dams from Fortis Belize Limited and 33.3 percent of shares in Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) from Fortis Inc. of Canada.
The total purchase value is broken down by the Prime Minister as follows: “The independent valuation…with access to both historical data and projections of the company, as well as global comparisons, set a figure of US$122 million; of course, Fortis was asking for a higher price. The final net purchase price is US$110 million, which is approximately six times the 2024 profits – if you were to take the 2024 net profits and multiply by six, it would pay off the debt. In the case of the BEL shares, the book value for the Fortis shares at the close of 2024 was US$62,611,826 (BZ$125,223,652); that’s a per share price of $5.45. The final negotiated purchase price is US$18 million (BZ$36 million) or a per share price of $1.56.”
But beyond the money, the Prime Minister hailed the return to Belize of valuable and necessary assets that will strengthen Belize’s energy independence, reducing costs and providing relief to consumers: “Foremost among my government’s priorities since 2020 has been diversifying the sources of power generation, to achieve greater energy independence, while also seeking sources from which BEL can purchase power at lower prices. The bill we introduce today is a positive double play: achieving both of the national objectives simultaneously. The bill will Belizeanize these critical hydropower generation plants, and it will also reduce the cost of power sold to BEL by this critical power generation.”
Much more to come from the P.M.’s presentation as the Bill goes through all its stages this day, and presumably to the Senate on Monday.
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The post Belize to buy Fortis dams, BEL shares for $220 million appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Friday, October 17, 2025. 2:15 pm CST. By Aaron Humes: Prime Minister John Briceño introduced the Electricity Acquisition (Belize Hydroelectric Assets) Bill, 2025, today in
The post Belize to buy Fortis dams, BEL shares for $220 million appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
