The Ascendant Group Ltd’s consolidated net earnings dropped almost $3 million during 2010 as subsidiary Belco incurred $1.2 million in lost sales and restoration costs from the damage caused by Hurricane Igor.The energy group’s net earnings for last year were $16.69 million compared to $19.51 million in 2009, while earnings per share fell 14.9 percent to $1.60 from $1.88 the previous year.But Bermuda Gas’ net earnings rose 3.9 percent to $1.32 million in 2010 from $1.27 million the year prior as an additional 9,512lbs of propane were sold, primarily in the residential market and appliance sales were up 15.2 percent, offsetting service sales which declined 7.3 percent over the same period.Belco’s earnings decreased approximately $2.95 million to $16.71 million versus $19.66 million in 2009 despite electricity sales, net of adjustment income, increasing $3.29 million to $153.97 million in 2010 from $150.68 the year before.Commercial sales were also down 1.9 percent or 6.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) compared to a rise of 2.4 percent in 2009 due to the contraction of the economy, while residential kWh sales climbed 1.9 percent last year on a 1.2 percent increase in 2009.