Electricity tariff revision : Update from Minister

October 23, 2023 at 1:13 PM

A mechanism will be formulated to revise the electricity tariffs once in 03 months, instead of the existing system of 06 months, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera announced today.

Addressing the media, the minister said there was a misconception that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) can only revise electricity tariffs twice a year and that the CEB has not conducted the recent tariff revisions according to the law.

“While preparing the guidelines it was outlined that the CEB has the authority to make a tariff request in the event of a crisis. Electricity tariff revisions have been conducted using this system,” he explained.

About the necessity of tariff revisions at a time when heavy rainfall has been reported across Sri Lanka, the Minister said that even though floods have been reported in certain areas, rain has not been reported in the areas where power-generating reservoirs are located. 

“At present, only 65.8% of water capacity can be used from all the reservoirs for power generation. This is 20% less than the water capacity that was reported on October 22, 2022, which was 84.4%,” Minister Wijesekera revealed. 

The minister also said that a proposal for the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers.

Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the proposal will be presented to the Cabinet next week. 

Giving details on the proposal, he further said that the necessary documents have been handed over to the Attorney General’s Office and they are expecting feedback this week.

Minister Wijesekera said once the Attorney General’s advice is obtained this week, the proposal will be submitted to the Cabinet next week. (NewsWire)