GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, March 10, 2026 /CNW/ - Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. ("CUC" or the "Company") welcomes approval of the Certificate of Need ("CON") by the Utility Regulation and Competition Office ("URCO" or the "Regulator"), paving the way for increased generation capacity to support Grand Cayman's continued growth.

URCO has approved CUC's revised CON, submitted on February 10, 2026. The CON identifies Grand Cayman's future electricity needs, and establishes the requirements for the development of 94 megawatts ("MW") of additional generation capacity. The required capacity has been structured into three distinct capacity blocks, allowing for the participation of alternate generation technologies and resources in meeting the electricity generation needs.

Under its Transmission and Distribution licence, CUC is required to submit a CON to the Regulator to outline projected electricity demand. Following this submission, the Regulator will launch a competitive procurement process to secure new generation resources needed to meet future demand.

CUC continues to make significant investments in the reliability and resilience of Grand Cayman's electricity system, investing as much as US$100 million annually to serve the households, businesses, and communities that rely on it. Since 2020, these investments have contributed to a 50% reduction in outage time.

Electricity demand continues to increase on Grand Cayman, with a record peak load of 129.5MW being recorded on July 31, 2025. Meeting future demand will require timely increases in generation capacity to ensure adequate generation reserves, as required under CUC's licence, and to maintain a secure and reliable supply.

Mr Richard Hew, CUC President and CEO said:

"Energy is an essential service; the approval of the CON is an important step towards meeting Grand Cayman's growing electricity demand and providing a safe and reliable supply of electricity to the households and businesses we serve in the coming years."

CUC has published the full CON document on its website, available at https://www.cuc-cayman.com/regulatory-submissions.

Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. ("CUC" or "the Company"), on occasion, includes forward-looking statements in its media releases, Canadian securities regulatory authorities filings, shareholder reports and other communications. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plan", "believes", "estimates", "intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts", "schedule", or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". Forward-looking statements are based on underlying assumptions and management's beliefs, estimates and opinions, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally that may cause actual results to vary from plans, targets and estimates. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to operational, general economic, market and business conditions, regulatory developments and weather conditions. CUC cautions readers that actual results may vary significantly from those expected should certain risks or uncertainties materialize or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.

SOURCE Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd.