People have not properly understood the gravity of the current power crisis in the country, said Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara speaking to a briefing held today (28).
The Minister revealed that a proposal will be submitted to revise the rates of Electricity Bills for those with very high electricity consumption, urging all parties to be concerned with regard to the consumption of power.
Institutional and individual consumption of electricity must be reduced, Wijesekara went on, alleging that the people have not understood the severity of the power crisis in the country.
The Power and Energy Minister reminded that the charges remained unchanged for the last nine years despite many requests made by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) on multiple occasions.
He added that a revision of tariff has been proposed for certain institutions with high-consumption of power, such as hotels and industries, in view of the losses, but the hospital sector and low income houses may be spared.
Wijesekara alleged that programmes implemented allowing certain institutions to pay less than the usual amount of charges have been misused as well.
Accordingly, the revision of bills will be referred to the Cabinet and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) for approval.
MIAP
