The economic downturn and unforeseen events such as Hurricane Igor were the main contributors to the decline in the Ascendant Group's earnings for 2010, according to group CEO Vince Ingham.Mr Ingham said that the drop in energy sales was indicative of a slowdown in the economy, while residential sales were down due to the number of people leaving the Island and residents looking to cut back on their electricity bills during these tough times.He also revealed that Belco, which incurred approximately $1.2 million in lost sales and restoration costs from the damage caused by Igor last September, leaving around 29,000 customers without power, had no windstorm insurance but was rather self-insured in the event of a catastrophe as a result of the high cost of premiums outweighing the frequency of such events.Mr Ingham said that the cost of fuel remained top of the agenda, particularly with the unrest in the Middle East and its effect on world oil prices.He expected the higher prices to impact on Belco's fuel surcharge, however he added that through buying fuel at fixed prices ahead of time the company would try to manage that as best as possible.In the results last week, Belco reported that a total $1.12 million in costs was also incurred for repairs and maintenance on major engine machine parts, and to extend the useful life of existing engines to meet future demand, as the company continued to seek Government approval to build a new plant to replace its ageing plant.Mr Ingham said that he was bullish on getting the go ahead for the new plant and Belco had carried out an extensive consultation and he believes the company has answered all of the questions asked.“I remain hopeful that we will receive approval,” he said. “There is a process that we are following and at this point we have no reasons to believe that our application will be turned down.”PureNERGY was one part of the business that suffered more than most, posting a net loss of $410,000 last year and while it was an improvement on 2009's net loss of $1.1 million, the Ascendant Group said at the time it was expectations and, consequently, management was reviewing its options with respect to the subsidiary.Mr Ingham said that there was still a need for the small scale renewable energy provided by the company and the Ascendant Group would continue to look at ways of implementing those technologies in a cost effective manner, with the solar thermal hot water solution a big part of that plan going forward as more homes adopt it in the future.He said that Bermuda needed to rebuild its tourism industry and to attract and retain international business and there were many opportunities for the group to get involved in those with the different components of the business, including Belco, Bermuda Gas, PureNERGY, InVenture and Sigma contributing to the overall strategy through its leadership and innovation.“We are confident that we see a Bermuda that must transform itself and we see opportunities to participate in that,” he said.