In the beginning . . . "Pop... pop... pop! The lights in George Town got dimmer and dimmer and finally went out with the last pop." That was how a visitor from Grand Cayman in 1947 described the shutting down of the town generator every evening at 11:00 p.m. In those days the Island had no official public electricity service and most inhabitants enjoyed candles and oil lamps while some George Towners had their homes hooked up to the town generator that provided lighting between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. each day. Prior to the establishment of Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (CUC) on May 10th, 1966, local entrepreneurs Ed and Charlie Hislop are credited with providing initial service to George Town while Frank Scotland of Jamaica supplied the district of Bodden Town. It is probable that the Hislops' operation was seen more as a voluntary social service than a commercial enterprise, so nobody blamed them too much when the lights went out. The Hislops left the utility business before too long and George Town was again without electricity until 1955, when one Captain Cofelt formed the Cayman Islands Public Service Company Limited (CIPSCo) under special agreement with the Cayman Islands Government. This is recorded as the official beginning of public electricity supply under private enterprise in Grand Cayman. Captain Cofelt was assisted by his old shipmate, Pedro Echenique, who joined CUC in 1966 as Line Superintendent and retired in 1994 after 28 years of distinguished service. CUC commenced operations as the sole provider of electricity to Grand Cayman in May 1966 under a 25-year Licence with the Government of the Cayman Islands. At that time, the Company inherited 650 customers, an installed capacity of 1.36 MW with a peak load of 900 kW, and 52 employees. Nearly 42 years later, CUC has more than 22,000 customers, an available capacity of 139.5 MW, with a new record peak load of 90.39 MW experienced in June 2007, and 193 employees. While CUC has seen some rather challenging and exciting times, it has kept pace with many changes over the past three decades and can take a great deal of pride in the excellent service it provides. "There's a saying that 'if a person has something and doesn't know it, he can lose it and not miss it.' We didn't have it and we didn't know it, so we didn't miss it back then. I am referring to that vital commodity called electricity that today's generation takes for granted and probably couldn't survive without. Electrical service in the early days was limited because of the lack of funding, and there were many blackouts because of the unreliability of the engines. Ever since electricity became available, I have seen dramatic changes in lifestyles on the Island. CUC has kept its commitment over the years to supply a reliable electrical service to meet the ever-increasing demand." W. Warren Conolly, O.B.E., J.P. Director Emeritus