On a celebratory Friday at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus’ Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, Barbados’ sole electricity utility, Barbados Light & Power Company (BL&P), capped off 115 years of continuous service to the island nation with a dual milestone celebration: its second annual Luminosity Awards honoring standout staff, and the announcement of a newly completed collective bargaining agreement with its employee union.
Gathering under the event theme “Blueprints of Excellence”, the ceremony centered the people who have kept BL&P running reliably for more than a century, moving beyond corporate milestone speeches to lift up the individual and team contributions that underpin the island’s critical energy infrastructure. BL&P Managing Director Roger Blackman opened the event by tying the two major developments together, noting that the successful conclusion of union negotiations fell on the exact date of the utility’s 115th birthday.
“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 told the assembled crowd of staff, guests, and leadership. “It is a reminder that progress is built not only through infrastructure and investment, but through dialogue, partnership, and respect.”
Blackman emphasized that BL&P’s 11-decade track record of service is no accident, but the product of consistent, deliberate effort from every member of the organization. “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.”
Regional communications strategist Aprille Thomas delivered the event’s keynote address, shining a light on the often-unrecognized work of frontline and behind-the-scenes energy workers. Thomas pointed out that essential services like electricity only draw public attention when failures occur, making intentional internal recognition all the more critical. “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 thoughtful messages written by current BL&P employees to their successors who will hold the same roles 50 years in the future, with recurring themes of prioritizing workplace safety, embracing evolving energy technology, and centering people as the organization’s greatest asset. Echoing one submission, she noted: “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.”
Following a musical performance by eight-year-old Arturo Tappin III, the son of renowned Barbadian jazz saxophonist Arturo Tappin, the ceremony moved to the presentation of awards across 10 categories honoring individual and team excellence. Top honors went to a slate of standout employees: Communications Advisor Cassandra Crawford took home the Leadership Award, while Network Administrator Barrington Clarke claimed the Innovation Award. Digital Experience Administrator Tamara Browne and Integration Architect Richelle Bowen shared the Customer Service Excellence Award, AMI Operator Dian Brathwaite received the Health & Wellness Award, and Geographical Information Systems Assistant Charles Blenman was honored with the Outstanding Safety Award for a quick intervention that prevented a potentially fatal accident during a joint excavation project with the Barbados Water Authority, where he identified a buried live cable before work proceeded. The Team Spirit Award went to the Operations Generation team, made up of Liu Ross, Rodney Fagan, Damon Straughan, Shamar Atkinson, Kerwyn Price, and Shaquan Jones, for their outstanding collaborative coordination on core projects.
In addition to competitive awards, the ceremony also honored long-tenured staff, inducting 11 employees into BL&P’s 25-Year Club, with special recognition for workers who have hit 30 and 35 years of uninterrupted service with the utility.
Closing the event, BL&P leadership framed the 2025 award winners’ work as a blueprint for the utility’s next chapter, as it transitions to renewable energy sources and modernizes Barbados’ national electric grid.
BL&P’s history stretches back to 1911, when the first commercial electricity supply was launched from a Garrison power station serving Bridgetown and its surrounding neighborhoods. The company was formally incorporated in 1955, when it took over the assets of the earlier Barbados Electric Supply Corporation, and has grown to become the island’s only electricity provider. Today, BL&P operates as a subsidiary of Canada-based energy firm Emera Inc., following the divestiture of the National Insurance Scheme’s stake during the Frendel Stuart administration.