$100 million for the year to December 1994, and record net earnings of $12,231,478, a 14.8 percent improvement over last year.

Return on equity improved to what the company termed "a more acceptable level of 9.1 percent from 8.7 percent in 1993''. And they said earnings per share also rose from $2.43 "to a more satisfactory'' $2.79.

The quarterly dividend was increased by 10 percent in December 1994, bringing the annual dividend up to $1.10. Total dividends amounted to $4,496,980, an increase of 2.8 percent from 1993.

Electricity consumption was up 2.7 percent as a result of increased tourist arrivals and high summer temperatures.

Temperatures averaged 90 degrees this past summer, four or five degrees higher than normal. A new record peak load of 91.8 megawatts occurred in August.

There was also a 2.75 percent increase in rates as of January 1994. Rates increased in January 1995 and will also go up again in January 1996. The company had gone two years without any hike at all.

Belco expects that by September, the electricity demands of the USNAS lands will stabilise at about 50 percent of what it was during the peak period of 1993.

In 1994, Belco used 923,881 barrels of fuel to generate 527,353,550 kilowatt hours, for which they paid the Government $13.4 million in customs duty.

Belco's revenue from electricity sales alone were $98,906,055. Total revenue was $100,800,115.

Operating expenses rose more than four million dollars, up almost five percent, to $87,177,474.

Chairman, Mr. W. Neville Conyers, hailed the purchase of Bermuda Gas & Utility, the international award winning in-house training programme and 400-strong staff voting for random drug testing in the workplace as achievements.

"Unfortunately,'' he said, "throughout the year we were manoeuvring in response to Mother Nature, human nature, the unexpected and the unusual.'' Mr. Conyers noted for the future potential competition from customers seeking ways to generate their own electricity and new, strict environmental regulations to govern the process.

Belco, and Bermudians of all walks of life, suffered an Island wide black out January 22, 1994 and early in the summer the company lost one of their largest diesel engines.

In fact, there was concern that any further damage to the plant would seriously impair the company's ability to meet the energy demands for the long hot summer.

Three severe wind storms caused extensive outages. The company received a contaminated shipment of fuel, complicating operations in the power plant, and there was a leak in the pipeline from the fuel docks to Belco.

In the heat of the summer, with air conditioners working overtime, Belco was appealing to residents to conserve energy.

They are more confident about power supply this summer, with an additional 29 megawatt of capacity expected to be in place by July. Two 5.5 megawatt diesel engines were purchased in January.

In anticipation of the retirement of several older units, the firm is installing two other units to prepare for the summer months.

Said Mr. Conyers, "While the events of 1994 tested our flexibility, they failed to blur our focus. With particular emphasis on employee development and operational excellence, we initiated a large number of programmes to support the achievement of these and other corporate goals.'' Work processes in the operational departments were reviewed to identify areas where new and different methods and systems will increase productivity.

The company is reviewing and standardising work practices in transmission and distribution, and restructuring services within customer services to improve service to customers.

RECORD YEAR -- Belco chairman Mr. Neville Conyers (right) with president and CEO Mr. Garry Madeiros.