The chair of Grand Cayman's only electricity supplier received a Canadian government award on 15 October.

Sheree Ebanks, Chair of the Board of Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (CUC), was presented with a "Woman in Energy" award by the High Commission of Canada at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, CUC said in a release dated 15 October 2026. Mark Berman, High Commissioner of Canada to Jamaica and The Bahamas, said in the release: "The Cayman Islands' energy future is being shaped by people with vision, technical depth and the determination to deliver, and Sheree Ebanks is one of them."

The award coincides with Caymanians facing higher energy bills. CUC's own figures show a household using its average of 1,158 kilowatt-hours a month is paying about CI$50 more than in May, with the Government covering a further CI$17.43 of fuel cost, and the company reported a 31% rise in quarterly profit in July that it said was helped by a base-rate increase from 1 June.

CUC's answer: hedging, and an 80% claim

Asked by The Caymanian Journal (TCJ) why it passes the full monthly movement in diesel prices to customers rather than hedging or smoothing it, a CUC spokesperson said in written responses provided on 20 October 2026: "Hedging provides certainty, but it does not necessarily provide the lowest price." The spokesperson said: "In the case of fuel cost variances as high as being seen in current conditions smoothing by the Utility is usually not feasible which is why many Governments throughout the region such as Jamaica, Anguilla, Bermuda and Grenada have provided cost assistance."

The spokesperson said: "The Company has initiatives it is capable of deploying, once the appropriate approvals are received, that could displace up to 80% of Grand Cayman's diesel usage for electricity generation within 3 years. This displacement would occur with cleaner energy at less than half the current cost of diesel. These projects would result in over $75 million per annum in fuel cost savings for electricity consumers when compared against today's diesel costs." CUC did not name the projects or approvals.

Asked how many of its directors are nominated or employed by Fortis, the spokesperson said: "We are proud to note that this requested information is publicly available. The majority of CUC's board members are Caymanian independent directors." CUC's Management Information Circular of 20 March 2026 lists 12 directors. Three are Fortis executive vice-presidents, Stuart Lochray, Regan O'Dea and Gary Smith, and are classed as not independent because of that. Richard Hew, CUC's President and Chief Executive Officer, is not independent. Kay Menzies, who ran Fortis Belize until 31 October 2025, is listed as independent but "deemed to be not independent" for audit-committee purposes. The other seven, including Ebanks, are independent directors based in Grand Cayman.

The circular shows Ebanks was paid a retainer of US$92,000 as Chair in 2025, rising to US$97,500 under a structure shareholders approved in May 2026, and held 8,053 Class A shares worth US$108,716 at 20 March 2026. On the Chair's fees and shareholding, the spokesperson said: "As a publicly listed company, CUC is committed to transparency and accountability in its financial reporting."

On the award, the spokesperson said: "CUC is not involved with the event and cannot speak to the funding of the event or the awards which are issued by a separate entity, which is the High Commission of Canada. We are proud of our chairperson, along with other women in the region, who were recent recipients of the Women in Energy award presented by the High Commission of Canada at the above-mentioned summit."

The 2008 licence

The reason the regulator could not refuse the June rise is a licence the Government granted CUC in April 2008. The Electricity Transmission and Distribution Licence gives CUC the exclusive right to carry and sell electricity on Grand Cayman for 20 years. Its Condition 25 contains a formula, the Rate Cap and Adjustment Mechanism, that resets CUC's base rates every 1 June in line with Cayman and U.S. inflation, excluding food and fuel. The licence also sets a target return on CUC's assets, which the company said is 8.50% to 10.50% for 2026.

URCO said in its 13 July statement: "Once that verification is complete, URCO has no lawful discretion to 'block' an adjustment that the licence requires. To do so would be to disregard the licence conditions, invite successful legal challenge and undermine the rule of law." It said: "Any change to the way electricity rates are set requires amending the licence itself through a lawful process led by the Government and conducted in consultation with CUC."

The licence expires in April 2028. CUC said in its first quarter 2026 report that it "contains provisions for an automatic 20-year renewal" and that the company "has reasonable expectation of renewal until April 2048". URCO said in July that it "has signalled to CUC and the public that the licence needs to be updated and has initiated talks along these lines. This includes automatic rate adjustments." It said the work "can only be done in partnership with the support of the government" and that Rolston Anglin MP, Minister for Finance and Economic Development, had "already signalled support in this area".

What Caymanians have said about their bills

Leader of the Opposition Joey Hew MP said in a statement on 15 July 2026 that the regulator had not answered "the central question facing Caymanian families and businesses". He said: "If scheduled CUC base-rate increases were deferred in 2020 and again in 2022 to provide consumers with temporary relief during periods of economic hardship, why was a similar approach not pursued in 2026?"

The Utility Regulation and Competition Office, URCO, said in a statement on 13 July 2026 that the increase "has understandably caused concern in the community, particularly at a time when many households are already under pressure from higher fuel and living costs". It said the rate mechanism "was agreed and put into CUC's licence by the PPM government in 2008" and that "no minister responsible for utilities between 2008 and today has yet brought forward a lawful amendment to remove or replace it".

Premier André Ebanks MP said in a Government release on 28 September 2026 that "cost of living remains a daily concern and struggle for many families". Anglin said in the same release that the relief was targeted and time-limited while the Government worked to reduce energy use and dependence on imported fuel.

What the average bill has done

CUC's fuel charge is a pass-through that moves with the price of diesel, which CUC said in March 2026 generates about 95% of Cayman's electricity. CUC's published fuel cost rate was CI$0.140253 per kilowatt-hour for May 2026. For September it was CI$0.2255, according to the Government's 28 September release, about 61% higher.

CUC said in a statement dated 3 July 2026 that, for a customer using 1,158 kilowatt-hours, June's changes added CI$63.46 for fuel, CI$3.27 for energy and facilities charges and CI$1.06 for licence and regulatory fees, compared with May. The statement said: "The average customer will see a net increase of $46.03 attributable to fuel."

Since 1 June the Government has capped the fuel charge at CI$0.18 per kilowatt-hour for residential customers using between 101 and 3,500 kilowatt-hours a month, on their first 2,000 kilowatt-hours, and reimbursed CUC and Island Energy for the difference. Rebates to the two companies came to CI$3.92 million between 1 June and 31 August, the Government said on 28 September. Cabinet has approved a further CI$3 million to extend the cap to 31 December 2026. Anglin said the Government had provided about CI$11.35 million in electricity rebates and fuel duty relief by the end of August.

What CUC earned

CUC reported net earnings of US$47.4 million for 2025, up 11% from US$42.7 million in 2024, in a release dated 17 February 2026. For the three months to 30 June 2026 it reported US$15 million, up US$3.5 million, or 31%, from US$11.5 million in the same period of 2025. The release attributed the increase to lower depreciation, "an approved base rate increase effective June 1, 2026" and higher sales.

Who gives the award

The award and the summit at which it was presented are run by the Trade Commissioner Service of the High Commission of Canada "under its energy and clean technology portfolio", the CUC release said. The release said the summit, the CANCarib Climate Smart Opportunities Summit, "connects Canadian companies with regional counterparts to support the planning and delivery of clean technology projects".

CUC is a member of the Fortis group, a Canadian utility holding company headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Fortis Energy (Caribbean) Inc., a wholly owned Fortis subsidiary, held 25,351,430 Class A ordinary shares, about 60%, at 20 March 2026, according to the circular. At the dividend of US$0.20 a quarter declared in August 2026, that holding receives about US$20.3 million a year. The circular says CUC is exempt from the Toronto Stock Exchange's majority-voting rule because it is majority-controlled, and that such a policy "would not serve a useful purpose for Shareholders since the controlling shareholder would necessarily cast a majority of the votes" in electing directors.

A second chair

Ebanks also chairs the Public Service Pensions Board, the public body that administers the pension plans of Cayman Islands civil servants. She was appointed to that board on 6 March 2018 and became its chair in November 2019, according to the board's own announcement, which said the plan had "just surpassed US$1 billion in assets". CUC's circular of 20 March 2026 confirms she still holds that chair and sits on the pension board's investment and governance committees.

CUC's position

CUC said in its 31 July release that fuel costs are "passed through to customers without mark-up" and that efficiency investments, including a battery storage system and generating-unit upgrades, saved customers about US$2 million, or 5% of fuel costs, in the quarter and US$7.9 million in 2025. Hew said in the Government's 28 September release that CUC "recognise[s] the impact that higher energy costs can have on households" and welcomed the extension of the relief measures.

What happens next

The Government's electricity fuel charge cap runs to 31 December 2026. The Minister for Finance is to report the extension to Parliament and include the CI$3 million in a Supplementary Appropriation Bill, the 28 September release said. CUC's next base-rate adjustment under the licence falls due on 1 June 2027. The licence itself expires in April 2028, and URCO said in July that talks on updating it, including the automatic rate adjustments, have begun. TCJ emailed questions to the High Commission of Canada, Fortis, URCO, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability, the Office of the Premier, the Public Service Pensions Board, the Needs Assessment Unit and the Progressives. None of them had replied by the deadlines set, the last of which was 21 October. CUC answered a second set of questions on 20 October and had not answered its first or third by the deadline.