Light & Power at 115 toasts staff

The Barbados Light & Power Company used its 115th anniversary on Friday to highlight the people behind its operations, pairing the milestone with a staff awards ceremony and news of a completed round of union negotiations.

Held under the theme “Blueprints of Excellence” at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination at UWI Cave Hill, the second annual Luminosity Awards ceremony honoured individual and team achievements across several categories, while reflecting on more than a century of service to the island.

Managing director Roger Blackman opened the proceedings by noting that the anniversary coincided with another key development for the company.

“This week, as we mark our 115th anniversary, we also reached another important milestone—the successful conclusion of our union negotiations actually on our birthday,” Blackman announced. “It is a reminder that progress is built not only through infrastructure and investment, but through dialogue, partnership, and respect.”

Addressing staff, Blackman said the company’s long history was built on consistent effort rather than chance.

“Excellence at Light & Power is not accidental. It is reflected in our commitment to safety and the discipline required to maintain our electricity system. Today is about recognition, but it is also about reinforcement—reinforcing the culture we value, reinforcing the standards we expect, and reinforcing the excellence we will need as we continue to build our future.”

The ceremony featured regional communications strategist Aprille Thomas as keynote speaker. She urged the audience to reflect on the often unseen impact of essential services, noting that success is frequently measured by what does not go wrong.

“When everything is working perfectly, nobody notices,” Thomas observed. “But the minute something goes wrong, everybody remembers your name, where you work, and where you live. Building on the idea that success is often silent, I think days like today are so important because it is a moment in time that you take to just recognise yourselves and the work that you have done. Your success may be silent, but your impact is not.”

Thomas also shared messages written by current staff to those who will hold their posts 50 years from now, highlighting safety, adapting to new technology, and the continuing importance of people within the organisation. “The infrastructure we build, the technology we deploy… are important, but they will never be more important than the people who choose every day to be here, to contribute and to care,” she noted from an employee’s submission.

The programme included a musical interlude by eight-year-old Arturo Tappin III, son of acclaimed jazz saxophonist Arturo Tappin, before the presentation of awards.

A central moment was the announcement of the 2025 Luminosity Top Award winners, recognising performance, innovation and leadership across the company.

Cassandra Crawford, communications advisor, received the Leadership Award, while Barrington Clarke, network administrator, took the Innovation Award.

Light and Power’s Communication’s Advisor Cassandra Crawford all smiles after capturing the Leadership as well as the Communication and External Division Star Awards

In the Customer Service Excellence category, Tamara Browne, digital experience administrator, and Richelle Bowen, integration architect, were honoured. The Health & Wellness Award went to AMI operator Dian Brathwaite.

The Outstanding Safety Award was presented to Geographical Information Systems assistant Charles Blenman, whose intervention during an excavation project with the Barbados Water Authority identified a buried live cable and averted a potentially fatal incident.

The Operations Generation team — Liu Ross, Rodney Fagan, Damon Straughan, Shamar Atkinson, Kerwyn Price and Shaquan Jones — received the Team Spirit Award for coordination in their work.

(Left to right) BL&P Employees Rashaun Jones, Damon Straughn and Kerwyne Price won the Team Spirit award. (Photo Credit: Shamar Blunt/Barbados TODAY)

Eleven employees were also inducted into the 25-Year Club, with additional recognition for staff reaching 30 and 35 years of continuous service.

Company officials closed the event by pointing to the work of the 2025 awardees as a guide for the company’s transition to clean energy and a modernised national grid.

Light & Power traces its roots to 1911, when electricity was first supplied from a power station at the Garrison to Bridgetown and surrounding districts. Light & Power was incorporated in 1955 to take over the assets of the earlier Barbados Electric Supply Corporation, and has since grown into the island’s sole electricity utility. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Canadian-based Emera Inc., after the divestiture of the National Insurance Scheme’s stake during the Frendel Stuart administration.

(RR)