The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has requested the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to cut power for three months in February, March and April. Janaka Ratnayake, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission says that a discussion will be held today (12) with the General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board and other officials to take a decision in this regard.
He said that a decision would be taken on whether to allow a power cut or not based on that discussion.
He said that despite the Public Utilities Commission making great efforts to maintain an uninterrupted power supply in the recent past, it seems that it is losing control of the country and that this has not been done to the extent required by the public as well as government agencies.
Ratnayake said that hydropower generation has been greatly affected.
He points out that the water capacity of hydropower generation is declining day by day and therefore it is necessary to manage the situation.
For this purpose, the power consumption which has increased from 47 to 48 GW per day has to be reduced to 40 GW per day, he said.
Accordingly, Ratnayake requests all consumers to reduce their electricity consumption and provide the necessary assistance to the Public Utilities Commission and the Ceylon Electricity Board.
