Power Minister warns of eight-hour power cuts in 2023

December 6, 2022 at 11:32 AM

Sri Lanka will have to face power cuts of between 06- 08 hours if the proposed tariff revision is rejected, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera warned today (06).

Speaking in Parliament, the minister explained that no proposal has been submitted to the Cabinet on plans to recover losses incurred by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) over the past years. 

“The report handed over to the Cabinet only outlines the losses incurred by the CEB over the past few years and the financial assistance offered by the Treasury to help the CEB. The only proposal that was made was to revise electricity tariffs to match the power generation costs,” he said.

Minister Kanchana Wijesekara further said that it has only been proposed to revise electricity tariffs in two slots in January and June every year to match the power generation costs at the time of revising the tariff.

“We requested the CEB to give us the plan to provide an undisrupted power supply in 2023. The CEB has pointed out that there might be a drought next year and a reduction in the rain, and if that occurs, there will be a reduction in hydropower generation. Therefore, they have calculated that Rs. 56.90 will be required for the generation of one power unit and over 17,000 gigawatts is required for next year,” he briefed Parliament.

The minister pointed out that the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has not provided the tariff revision requested by the CEB, the tariff was revised last August after a period of 09 years.

He stressed that it is the responsibility of the PUCSL to revise tariffs yearly, but they had not followed this process.

“If we don’t receive the necessary funds to purchase the oil, fuel, and coal for power generation, then Sri Lanka can expect power cuts of between 06-08 hours in 2023,” he said.

Stating that many parties are objecting to the proposed tariff revision, he warned that if that is the opinion then the government will refrain from revising the tariff, but this will result in Sri Lanka facing lengthy power cuts. (NewsWire)