CaribPR Wire

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA): Chris Huskilson, President and CEO of Emera Inc., and Andrew Gittens, Chairman of The Barbados Light & Power Company, announced today the appointments of Mark King as Managing Director of The Barbados Light and Power (BL&P) and Bob Hanf as Executive Chairman of Light and Power Holding (LPH) and Director of BL&P, effective November 1, 2011.

Mark King, presently Chief Operating Officer will assume the role of Managing Director of BL&P with overall responsibility for the management and operations of the utility.  In his 35 years with BL&P Mr. King has held several senior level positions and has led many initiatives including the introduction of the first Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system in 1984, and the Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality (HSEQ) which under his leadership obtained ISO9001 certification in 2008.

“I am pleased to be provided this opportunity and truly humbled by the vote of confidence the Board of Directors has shown in me.  I look forward to working with the management team and appreciate their continued commitment and dedication to our Company,” stated Mr. King.

Bob Hanf becomes Executive Chairman of LPH and a Director of BL&P. In his current role as Chief Legal Officer of Emera Inc., Bob has been working with BL&P and LPH as they become part of the Emera family of energy companies.

Mr. Hanf joined Emera in 2002 as General Counsel for Emera and its affiliates.  He became Chief Executive Officer of Emera affiliate Bangor Hydro in 2007 and returned to Emera Inc. in 2011 as Chief Legal Officer.  Prior to joining Emera Mr. Hanf was a partner with the law firm McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

Barbados is an important part of Emera’s business and as such we felt it crucial to provide a direct Emera connection to the island,” said Mr. Huskilson of the new role. “Bob is a senior leader in our Company with a vast array of experiences in utility management, stakeholder engagement, business development and law and will play a crucial strategic role in our Barbados business.”

“I am honoured to be taking on this new role within the Emera group of companies,” stated Mr. Hanf. “We see great opportunity for these Companies and for the country of Barbados and I look forward to working with the team and members of the community to realize this potential.”

Outgoing Managing Director of BL&P, Peter Williams, who was appointed as Managing Director of Light & Power Holdings in July of 2010, will continue in this role, reporting to LPH’s Board of Directors.  Wayne Crawley, President and CEO Emera Caribbean Limited will continue as a Director of Both LPH and BLP.

About Emera

Emera Inc. is an energy and services company with $6.6 billion in assets and 2010 revenues of $1.6 billion. The company invests in electricity generation, transmission and distribution, as well as gas transmission and utility energy services. Emera’s strategy is focused on the transformation of the electricity industry to cleaner generation and the delivery of that clean energy to market. Emera operates throughout northeastern North America, in three Caribbean countries and in California. More than 80% of the company’s earnings come from regulated investments. Emera common and preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade respectively under the symbol EMA and EMA.PR.A. Additional information can be accessed at www.emera.com, www.sedar.com, or on www.sec.gov.

About Light & Power Holdings

Light & Power Holdings Ltd. is an investment company with electricity being its core business. The Company has a wholly owned regulated electric utility, The Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd., which has been serving electricity customers in Barbados since 1911. Electricity service is available to the entire island community.

About Barbados Light and Power

The Barbados Light & Power Company supplies electricity to over 122,000 customers in Barbados and has established itself as one of the leading electrical utilities in the Caribbean. The Company is committed to providing an efficient, safe and reliable electricity service to its customers. This year the Company celebrates 100 years of centralized electricity service to Barbados. Additional information can be accessed at www.blpc.com

After Bermuda, New Brunswick and Quebec City, it’s now Barbados’ turn to entrust Irosoft with the automation of its legislative drafting, consolidation and publication processes.

 MONTREAL, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Montreal’s Irosoft, world leader in Acts and regulations management solutions, in collaboration with Montreal’s ESI Technologies, signs an agreement with the Government of Barbados for the implementation of its LIMS suite, a complete legislative management system. 

 Irosoft is proud to announce the signing of this contract with the Government of Barbados, a contract that consolidates LIMS’s positioning on the world stage.

 ”The Government of Barbados, through its ‘Justice Improvement Program’ initiative, chose to implement our LIMS solution. This will enable its citizens’ and the international community to easily access its Acts and regulations. We are truly happy to have been selected for this project. It is the result of several months of work by our sales and development teams,” declared with great enthusiasm Alain Lavoie, president and cofounder of Irosoft. “It’s a wonderful demonstration of what two Quebec SMEs can accomplish when they join forces to export their know-how to the international market.”

 ”What makes our platform unique is the fact that is covers every step of legal documentation production in an integrated way,” adds Mr. Lavoie.

 Indeed, Irosoft’s LIMS platform is one of the few complete solutions currently on the market that enable national, provincial and municipal governments to manage their Acts or their regulations, whether unilingual or bilingual, from drafting all the way to publication.

 Furthermore, LIMS enables users to search for and reconstruct Acts and regulations for a specific point in time and to visualize provisions that have been assented to, but that are not yet in force.

 LIMS is currently being used by the Departments of Justice Bermuda, Quebec and New Brunswick as well as by Quebec City. Part of the suite is also being used by the Government of the Bahamas.

 About Irosoft Inc.

Founded in 1995, Irosoft is a world leader in Document/Record Management and Legal Information Management. As a specialist in integrated content management for the past 15 years, Irosoft offers innovative and easy to use solutions so that clients can simply and efficiently develop, organize, exploit and preserve their information capital. To date, more than 100 national and international organizations — government departments and agencies, municipalities, as well as private companies — have come to Irosoft to carry out large-scale content management projects.

MIAMI, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) has signed an agreement with Regatta Travel Solutions to launch BookBarbadosNow.com.  The site aims to become the primary resource for information and reservations for hotels and activities in the destination of Barbados.  Regatta recently announced the official release of its private label OTA Software (Online Travel Agency) and the signing of its first agreement with Puerto Rico.  Now Regatta will also work hand in hand with Barbados to attract more travelers to the destination while reducing the cost of each booking to suppliers.

 ”It is so exciting to have a high profile destination like Barbados embrace Regatta,” said Ashwin Kamlani, President of Regatta Travel Solutions.  “This is going to change everything about the power that DMOs have to impact the tourism and local economies within their destination.”

 ”We evaluated several companies for this project,” said Sue Springer, Executive Vice President of BHTA.  “But Regatta is the only system that is specifically designed to handle everything we were looking for.  The combination of the advanced technology and the marketing knowledge that they bring to the table is very attractive to us.”

 The initial phase of www.BookBarbadosNow.com is live and has already generated bookings for the destination.

 About the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association

The Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association was established in 1952.  Their mission is “Bringing people, research knowledge and technology together to resolve challenges of business and to stage a world class experience and performance.”  Visit bhta.org for more details.

 About Regatta Travel Solutions Inc.

Founded by Ashwin Kamlani, Regatta Travel Solutions provides specialized online booking technology and marketing tactics for DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations).  DMOs that use Regatta to book travel on their sites can increase demand for their destination, lower the cost paid by suppliers per booking, and increase membership and participation for their organizations. Visit www.hotelinternethelp.com for more details.

CaribPR Wire, Bridgetown, Barbados, Tues. April 26, 2011: Artisans have been invited to exhibit their products at the region’s foremost trade show, Design Caribbean, offering unique access to important regional and international buyers, in addition to massive market opportunities presented in Dominican Republic with a population of 10 million people.

Artisan Sign-up Details

Over the past month we have had an outstanding response from artisans in the Caribbean anxious to be part of the upcoming Design Caribbean trade fair in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 

All artisans engaged in art and design in the Caribbean region are eligible to participate in the Design Caribbean trade show. We are seeking quality products from diverse creative specialties including but not limited to ceramics, jewellery, fashion accessories, home furnishings, spa and wellness items, specialty foods and leather goods. A number of cash awards and incentives will be awarded in each category.  For participation criteria and sign up details, please  email [email protected] or visitwww.designcaribbean.com for application forms. Information can also be gathered at www.facebook.com/DesignCaribbean.

Design Caribbean Details

From September 1-4, 2011 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Design Caribbean will unite a passion for design with the soul of the Caribbean. All products on display will have been vetted for excellence.

In Barbados during the official launch of the 10^th European Development Fund (EDF), attendees were given the first sneak peek of some of the exciting product that will be part of the upcoming fair.  Alongside the main trade fair, Design Caribbean, there will be many related events including a major musical event, a film programme, the remarkable rums experience, a specialty tea tent, spa and wellness as well as a fashion show. Participating artisans will also have the opportunity to attend a number of product and market development workshops on hot topics such as intellectual property rights, growing a business and accessing foreign markets.

As noted at the 10^th EDF launch by Her Excellency Ambassador Rosalyn E. Hazelle, Chairperson Caribbean Export, “Design Caribbean is an opportunity for exhibitors to bring their uniquely designed projects to a targeted regional and international audience that will assist these artisans in growing their businesses to continue to provide new sustainable opportunities.”

CaribPR Wire, MIAMI, FL, Weds. April 6, 2011: BlackBerry® Travel™, an application that provides BlackBerry® smartphone users with an all-in-one integrated tool to plan, book, manage and share travel activities quickly and easily, is now available in the major markets of the Caribbean.

The new app was recently announced in February at MWC 2011 in Barcelona and is now ready for download for BlackBerry users in the following markets: Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Bahamas, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands.

The BlackBerry Travel app offers convenient push notifications and seamless integration of travel itineraries and flight status updates into the familiar BlackBerry Calendar.  When a new booking confirmation or itinerary arrives in the user’s email inbox, the BlackBerry Travel app is automatically updated with the relevant itinerary details, which makes travel planning and management easier than ever. With the BlackBerry push technology, the BlackBerry Travel app can keep users informed and in control of their itineraries by monitoring flight statuses and promptly providing notifications about changes to their flight information. The app can even identify potential omissions or scheduling concerns with their itineraries, such as missing accommodations or timing conflicts, and provide users with suggestions.

The BlackBerry Travel app also brings together tools that travelers need while planning on the go, including:

• Hotel booking
• Currency converters
• Weather forecasts
• Local search functionality

In addition, BlackBerry smartphone users can share their travel information with colleagues, friends and family over email or through LinkedIn®, directly from the BlackBerry Travel app. The LinkedIn integration allows users to search for people in their network who will be in the same city, send messages to contacts and update their status.

The BlackBerry Travel app also features a web component that allows users to book flights and car rentals, as well as edit and print itineraries, from their computer.

The BlackBerry Travel app was built in collaboration with WorldMate, a leader in mobile travel platforms.  WorldMate and RIM are working together with leaders in the travel industries such as Continental Airlines, Expedia Affiliate Network, Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, United Airlines to provide BlackBerry Travel app users with an amazing mobile experience.

The BlackBerry Travel app will be available as of today from BlackBerry App World™ (www.blackberry.com/appworld). The app is free and works on select BlackBerry smartphones running the BlackBerry® 5 OS (Device Software) or higher.* For more information please visit www.blackberry.com/travel

* BlackBerry Travel is available at launch for the BlackBerry® Bold™, BlackBerry® Curve™, BlackBerry® Storm™ and BlackBerry® Torch™ series of smartphones.

CaribPR Wire, Barbados, March 2, 2011: Artisans from the Caribbean region are invited to exhibit their products at the region’s foremost trade show, Design Caribbean, which offers unique access to important regional, international and diaspora buyers.

From September 1-4, 2011 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Design Caribbean will unite a passion for design with the soul of the Caribbean. All products are vetted for excellence so only the best of the region will be on show. Alongside the main trade fair, there will be many related events including a major musical event, a film programme, spa and wellness and a fashion show. Participating artisans will also attend a number of product and market development workshops on hot topics such as copyright, growing a business and accessing foreign markets.

Design Caribbean will attract buyers from North America, Europe and the Caribbean region. This year promises to be a notable event that no artisan should miss. If you want your products to reach a global marketplace, please register your interest immediately as places are limited.

Artisan Sign-up Details

All artisans engaged in design in the Caribbean region are eligible to participate in the Design Caribbean trade show. We are seeking products from diverse creative specialties including but not limited to ceramics, jewellery, fashion accessories, home furnishings, spa and wellness items and leather goods. In addition, there will a number of cash awards and incentives for winning various design categories.  For participation criteria and sign up details, please email  [email protected].

Sharing the Caribbean Experience

“Design Caribbean is an opportunity for exhibitors and visitors to experience the Caribbean, where all cultures collide to create something beautiful,” says Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), organisers of the event. Participants will leave the show inspired and invigorated by the creative splendor of the Caribbean and new business insight.

Ms. Coke Hamilton believes that Caribbean Design operates within a unique environment where “every race, culture and creed has been able to create a truly genuine melting pot of racial, religious and ethnic blending, which has now become the foundation of the Caribbean identity and culture. This region is the only one where anyone can land and immediately fit in without fear of exclusion or isolation. We merge all the varying aspects of our differing ethnic backgrounds to create a spirit, which is uniquely and quintessentially Caribbean. This spirit is captured and reflected in the originality, boldness and inherent creativity that mirror the experience of those who landed on our shores from disparate parts of the globe. The Caribbean soul is, without apology, dynamic, vibrant and intrinsically beautiful. This is Design Caribbean.”

About Design Caribbean
Inspired by the passion and talent of both distinguished and aspiring artists, Design Caribbean brings the region’s finest handmade designs and innovative products onto the world stage.

Encapsulating the spirit of design to celebrate the ‘beautiful,’ our event takes place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from Sept. 1-4, 2011. Showcasing a broad product range of handmade quality products, it will connect artists to buyers, and design enthusiasts from the Caribbean region, North America and Europe.  Design Caribbean visitors will come away with a true sense of the diversity and splendor that breathes vibrancy into the Caribbean region.

Design Caribbean is organized by Caribbean Export, a trade and promotion organization with 15 member regions, whose mandate is to “take Caribbean excellence to the world.”

For media inquiries or to contact a spokesperson for an interview, please contact:                                     

Quentin T. Baldwin
Email: [email protected]       
Phone:   1 246 436 0578  (Barbados)

Caribbean Export Head Office
Mutual Building, Hastings Main Road
Christ Church, BB15154
BARBADOS

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Emera Inc. (”Emera” – Toronto Stock Exchange listing “EMA”) wishes to advise all shareholders of Light & Power Holdings Ltd. (”Light & Power Holdings” – Barbados Stock Exchange listing: “LPH”) that the offer to purchase all issued and outstanding common shares in Light & Power Holdings at a cash price per share of BB$25.70 (twenty five Barbados dollars and seventy Barbados cents) closed as of 5 pm on January 24, 2011.

 7,129,269 shares of LPH were deposited in response to the offer and Emera announced today that it will purchase all deposited shares. If the tender and acceptance of all shares is confirmed by the Barbados Stock Exchange as valid, this will increase Emera’s ownership in LPH to 79.74 per cent.

 This 41.43 per cent additional investment will make Emera the majority shareholder in LPH. The remaining shares of LPH are primarily held by 1,700 Barbadian shareholder accounts, including the National Insurance Board of Barbados.

 Payments for deposited shares will be made to shareholders by January 31, 2011. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter.

 Light & Power Holdings is the parent company of The Barbados Light & Power Company Limited (”BLPC”). BLPC is the sole electric utility operator on the island of Barbados, serving 120,000 customers. BLPC has three power generation stations consisting of 239 MW of installed capacity.

 Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

 This release contains forward-looking information and should not be read as a guarantee of future events, performance or results, and will not necessarily be an accurate indication of whether, or the times at which, such events, performance or results will be achieved. Emera disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws.

 About Emera

 (EMA and EMA.PR.A – TSX) is an energy and services company with $5.8 billion Canadian dollars in assets. Electricity is Emera’s core business. Approximately 94% of Emera’s revenues are earned by Nova Scotia Power Inc (NSPI), Bangor Hydro Electric Company (BHE) and the Brunswick Pipeline. NSPI and BHE are wholly-owned regulated electric utilities which together serve 603,000 customers. The Brunswick Pipeline is a 145 km gas pipeline in New Brunswick. Emera also owns Maine and Maritimes Corporation, the parent company of Maine Public Service Company, a regulated electric utility serving approximately 36,000 electricity customers in Northern Maine, and MAM Services Group. In the Caribbean, Emera owns 19% of St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, which serves more than 50,000 customers on the island of St. Lucia; 80.4% of Grand Bahama Power Company which serves 19,000 customers on the island of Grand Bahama; and 38% of Light & Power Holdings which serves 120,000 customers on the island of Barbados through its regulated electric utility The Barbados Light and Power Company. As well, Emera owns 8.2% of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. and 50% of Calpeco which serves 47,000 customers in California. In addition to its electric utility investments, Emera owns Bayside Power, a 260 MW gas-fired power plant in Saint John, New Brunswick; Emera Energy Services, a physical natural gas and power marketing and asset management business; a joint venture interest in Bear Swamp, a 600 megawatt pumped storage hydro-electric facility in northern Massachusetts; a 12.9% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline; and an 8.2% interest in Open Hydro. Visit Emera on the web at www.emera.com .

 (EMA.)

CaribPR Wire, Toronto, Canada, October 7, 2010 – As part of a campaign to identify and link up with Barbadians across the world, and register their skills and qualifications, Invest Barbados, an economic development agency for Barbados, has  launched a new campaign called, “Return to the Rock,” in which eligible participants could win a free trip for two people to Barbados.

CAMPAIGN DETAILS

The website www.networkbarbados.com  was created to facilitate this process, and Barbadians in the Diaspora are being encouraged to register on the site. To enter the contest, Barbadians living abroad only need to register at www.networkbarbados.com. Each entry has a chance to win an economy fare trip for two people to Barbados. Flights must depart from New York, U.S.A., Toronto, Canada or London, U.K. If Network Barbados receives 10,000 registered names over the next 60 days, two winners will be selected, instead of just one. (Terms & Conditions)

The winning flights will be booked for the final week during Crop Over 2011. This five-week summer Festival has turned into a cultural and culinary extravaganza that attracts thousands of international visitors every year to Barbados.

CAMPAIGN PURPOSE

“We need to significantly increase registrations in order to make the database meaningful as a site for Barbadians to connect, and be informed about what’s happening on the island, and especially what’s happening for Barbadians in the diaspora specifically. We hope this competition initiative for a prize draw of a trip back home for crop over will help us achieve that critical mass of registrations,” said Wayne Kirton, the CEO of Invest Barbados. “Keeping in touch with Barbadians living across the globe also helps us spread the word about what continues to make our country a highly desirable investment location.”

Barbadians living abroad benefit in several ways from signing up on the site, apart from connecting at a social level with other Barbadians, registering on www.networkbarbados.com provides Barbadians living aboard with the opportunity to access timely updates and insights including:

• Governmental changes, legislative shifts, that could directly impact business on and off the island.
• Ability to invest in the development of Barbados and access new initiatives on the ground level.
• Inside access to reach local Barbadians and exclusive ability to post projects (business opportunities) for local responses on the site, the ‘go to’ location for entrepreneurs as well as long-standing business owners.
• Sector trends that help to highlight various business and growth opportunities.
• Wide array of specific investment prospects from government debentures to real estate developments. 

Invest Barbados

Invest Barbados (IB) is the economic development agency of the government of Barbados that  is responsible for attracting, winning and sustaining foreign direct  investment in, and through Barbados, utilizing its international tax treaties, into other countries. The corporation is also responsible for promoting the export of indigenous services and helping to develop and manage the Barbados Business brand.

For more visit: www.investbarbados.org.

- Migratory bird stop between North and South America at risk

 BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, May 6 /PRNewswire/ — A new environmental study sharply critical of the Government of Barbados shows the key Graeme Hall mangrove wetland is disappearing due to outside pollution and poor water quality.

 The Graeme Hall wetland is the last remaining mangrove in Barbados — a red mangrove forest that has existed for no less than 1,300 years. It is the only wetland in Barbados recognized internationally under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar). It acts as a Caribbean flyway stop for migratory birds between North and South America.

 The extensive 800-page study (www.graemehall.com/press/papers/Graeme Hall 043010 MEA.pdf) prepared for the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary by Environmental Engineering Consultants of Tampa, Florida shows the Sanctuary has suffered a 77 per cent reduction in salinity in the past ten years due to an inoperative government-run sluice gate. The huge reduction signals “an inevitable failure of the mangrove ecosystem” as freshwater flora and fauna take over.

 The study also cites damaging factors including: dumping of raw sewage into the wetland instead of the sea by the South Coast Sewage Treatment Plant; contaminated storm water runoff originating from 1,150 acres of government-managed drainage systems; and, commercial and residential pollutants from adjoining properties.

 ”The government owned and operated sluice gate failure confirms our worst fears,” said Stuart Heaslet, an official with Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary. “It means that as the mangrove forest dies, it will not grow back because freshwater plants are taking over.”

 The original environmental investment was based on the area being protected as a brackish mangrove ecosystem.

 ”The study confirms that Government-controlled pollution is being dumped into the wetland. Despite our formal offers of technical and financial assistance to government, there has been no response. We can’t defend ourselves against pollution and environmental mismanagement outside our boundaries. Bird counts are down, crabs are disappearing, and we are seeing environmental degradation everywhere.”

 Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary occupies 42 per cent of the Ramsar wetland at Graeme Hall, and is owned by Peter Allard, a Canadian investor and philanthropist who has put more than US $35 million into the 35-acre eco-tourism site to preserve the last significant mangrove woodland and wetland on the island.

 ”The investment in the Sanctuary was supposed to be part of a sustainable environmental initiative, dependent on government leadership,” said Allard. “As the largest private environmental stakeholder in Barbados, we continue to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to maintain the Sanctuary, but we all have to face the fact that it’s Government who is killing the wetland. The study shows that our environmental commitment and investment cannot withstand this assault.”

 The Sanctuary in fact closed its doors to the general public in late 2008 when problems of pollution and water quality became overwhelming.

 ”This isn’t just a problem for the Ramsar environmental wetland and our investment, it’s also a health and human welfare problem for the people of Barbados,” said Allard.

 Despite a 6,000 signature petition by citizens of Barbados to create a 240-acre national park at Graeme Hall, a new government zoning policy calls for commercial and residential development for the majority of the area.

 As the Canadian owner of the Sanctuary, Allard has filed several complaints alleging that the Government of Barbados has violated its international obligations by refusing to enforce its environmental laws, thereby allowing increased pollution and land development to damage the Sanctuary.

 See study: www.graemehall.com/press/papers/Graeme Hall 043010 MEA.pdf

 Related articles:

 http://graemehall.com/press/releases/bilateral-investments-treaty-complaint/20091028-BIT-Complaint.pdf

 http://graemehall.com/press/releases/barbados-endangers-wetlands/20091203-Barbados-Endangers-Wetlands.pdf

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 3 /PRNewswire/ – Today, Emera (TSX: EMA) announced that it will acquire a 38% interest in Light & Power Holdings Ltd. (Barbados Stock Exchange: “LPH”) from Leucadia National Corporation (”Leucadia”). Under the terms of the agreement with Leucadia, Emera will acquire the interest from Leucadia for US $85million.

 LPH is the parent company of The Barbados Light & Power Company Limited. (BLPC) BLPC is the sole utility operator on the island of Barbados, serving 120,000 customers. BLPC has three power generation stations consisting of 239 MW of installed capacity. There is a regulatory regime on the island that allows a full fuel pass through mechanism.     

 ”This acquisition is an exciting next step in our Caribbean growth strategy as we begin to build scale in the region,” said Chris Huskilson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emera Inc. “BLPC is consistently ranked as one of the top-performing electric utilities in the Caribbean for efficiency, performance, and rate structure.”

 The Board of LPH has said that “they welcome the investment of Emera” and that “the combined knowledge and experience of Emera and LPH in the electric utility business will maintain and enhance the technical strength and future prospects of BLPC for the continued benefit of electricity customers in Barbados”.

This 38% investment will make Emera the largest single shareholder of LPH. Approximately 62% of LPH is locally held by 2,700 Barbadian shareholders, including the National Insurance Board of Barbados, which owns 23%.

LPH is Emera’s third investment in the Caribbean. This follows a 19% investment in St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (Lucelec), a vertically-integrated monopoly utility on the island of St. Lucia, and a 25% indirect interest in Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC), a vertically-integrated electric utility on the Grand Bahama Island in The Bahamas.

 The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter and is not subject to regulatory approval. This transaction will be financed with existing credit facilities and is expected to be immediately accretive.

Barbados is the most eastern island in the Caribbean, with a population of approximately 285,000. The government is a parliamentary democracy and the legal system is based on English common law. Canada enjoys a strong working relationship with Barbados, and Canadian companies make up approximately 75% of the international financial community on the island. Barbados enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in the region, and tourism is the main economic activity.

 Forward Looking Information

This news release contains forward looking information. Actual future results may differ materially. Additional financial and operational information is filed electronically with various securities commissions in Canada through the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR).

 About Emera

Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA) is an energy and services company with $5.3 billion in assets. Electricity is Emera’s core business. Approximately 94% of Emera’s revenues are earned by Nova Scotia Power Inc (NSPI), Bangor Hydro Electric Company (BHE) and the Brunswick Pipeline. NSPI and BHE are wholly-owned regulated electric utilities which together serve 603,000 customers. The Brunswick Pipeline is a 145 km gas pipeline in New Brunswick. Emera also owns 19% of St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, which serves more than 50,000 customers on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and 25% of Grand Bahama Power Company which serves 19,000 customers on the Caribbean island of Grand Bahama in The Bahamas. In addition to its electric utility investments, Emera owns Bayside Power, a 260 MW gas-fired power plant in Saint John, New Brunswick; Emera Energy Services, a physical natural gas and power marketing and asset management business; a joint venture interest in Bear Swamp, a 600 megawatt pumped storage hydro-electric facility in northern Massachusetts; a 12.9% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline; and an 8.2% interest in Open Hydro. Visit Emera on the web at www.emera.com.

 For further information: Emera Investor Contacts: Jennifer Nicholson, CA, Senior Director, Stakeholder Relations, (902) 428-6347; Jill MacDonald, CA, Manager, Investor Relations, (902) 428-6486; Emera Media Contact: Sasha Irving, Director, Corporate Communications, (902) 428-6685; Media Contact Light and Power Holdings Ltd., Peter Williams, Director, (246) 430-4200