Government fully determines to increase power tariffs by up to 65 percent in January 2023 through Cabinet approval to offset costs. Sri Lanka’s Power Minister Kanchan Wijesekara has said that his Ministry with Cabinet’s approval for the price hike.
The Minister added that all religious places would be supplied with a free-of-charge solar power unit generating 5 kilowatts of electricity.
These solar power units will be provided within a period of three months, under an Indian credit facility. Mr. Wijesekara added that three shipments of coal for the Norochcholai coal power plant are expected to arrive by mid-January.
State-run Ceylon Electricity Board had on several occasions this year asked the regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka to hike rates.
This year Sri Lanka faced its worst-ever economic crisis since its Independence in 1948 and was left unable to import fuel and coal resulting in power cuts of up to 13 hours.
Vowing to take legal action against the CEB and Energy minister if they overlook the energy prizing regulatory authority, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Ratnayake has claimed that he is yet to be called on by the President o discuss this shocking issue .
Ratnayake said that he is, in fact, waiting for such a call from President Ranil Wickremesinghe, so as to discuss the ongoing concerns.
Speaking in Parliament recently, President Wickremesinghe made several allegations against Ratnayake, accusing him of leading society astray with his claims that he would not allow an increase in electricity tariffs.
He also revealed that Ratnayake is the chairman of several organizations, including Trillium, which currently buys the most units of electricity. “When the tariffs on electricity are increased, his own expenses increase,” he said, attributing this to Ratnayake’s hesitance towards the increase.
Speaking with regards to the proposed electricity tariffs, Ratnayake stated that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is yet to notify PUCSL of an increase in electricity tariffs, asserting that no such revision can be made without the approval of PUCSL.
He accused CEB of attempting to create a wave of ‘fear’ amongst society by claiming that the proposed tariffs are due to be presented before the Cabinet, reiterating that for this to happen, the proposal needs to be presented to PUCSL first.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had to pay its staff nearly Rs 11 billion in salaries and allowances for the months of September, October and November 2022.
Accordingly, CEB had paid sums of Rs 3,535.62 million, Rs 3,589.21 million and Rs 3,662.28 million for the months of September, October and November, respectively.
Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara yesterday (29), publicised the CEB staff’s total salaries and allowances for months of September, October and November.
He tweeted that the salaries and the allowances ranges from Rs 3.5 billion to Rs 3.7 Billion monthly.While announcing that no new recruitments will be made, he said more than 1,100 employees are set to retire in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Minister also said with the current electricity tariff structure, CEB’s total revenue for October was Rs 33.6 billion and November Rs 35.6 billion.
CEB’s requirement of Heavy Fuel Oil, Naptha and Diesel to operate power stations for the month of January is Rs 35 billion and requirement for coal payments for January is Rs 38.45 billion.
In a meeting with CEB Trade Unions, Wijesekara discussed the proposed electricity tariff adjustments, restructuring of CEB, management of CEB expenses and other service issues.
The meeting was held with the representatives of CEB Senior Engineers Union, Electrical Superintendents Union, technical services and other union members.
