BEL Completes Island-Wide Maintenance and Grid Upgrades in San Pedro

Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) carried out a planned power outage on Sunday, June 7th, from 7AM to 3PM, affecting the entire island of San Pedro as crews performed critical maintenance and system upgrades. The outage, announced in advance by BEL, involved the strategic deployment of teams and utility trucks across the island to complete work at the San Pedro Substation and along distribution lines.
BEL stated that the outage enabled a range of safety and reliability improvements, including the replacement of utility poles and high-voltage line hardware, removal of bird nests from distribution lines, installation and testing of underground cables, and the clearing of hazardous vegetation encroaching on power lines. Technicians also conducted maintenance and testing on electrical equipment at the San Pedro Substation. The utility described these activities as part of a larger program aimed at minimizing unplanned outages and strengthening the resilience of the electrical grid.
The company explained that the planned interruption combined routine maintenance with high-priority items identified during recent comprehensive system inspections. In a statement, BEL emphasized its proactive approach: “By executing critical grid reinforcements and robust system improvements and strategically combining routine maintenance with high-priority items identified during our comprehensive system inspections, we are taking decisive action to minimize unplanned outages.”
Before Sunday’s outage, BEL conducted inspections that identified aging utility poles, vulnerable hardware, and vegetation encroachment as contributors to intermittent faults and weather-related disruptions. The scheduled maintenance forms part of an ongoing upgrade program intended to reduce the frequency and duration of unscheduled outages, particularly as Belize enters the peak of the hurricane season.
Some residents in the DFC area expressed frustration over the inconvenience caused by the outage but acknowledged the importance of the maintenance work. One resident stated, “Losing power is always inconvenient, but if this planned maintenance prevents longer outages during rainy weather like in the past, it’s worth it.”
BEL has encouraged customers to use the BEL 24/7 Mobile App for real-time updates on planned and unplanned outages, access account information, and report streetlight faults or hazardous vegetation near power lines. The company noted that proactive reporting helps its crews respond more quickly and reduce the likelihood of service interruptions.