The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said it was yet to receive the green light from the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) for the purchase of 128 MW of emergency power despite receiving Cabinet approval, while the PUCSL claimed that the delay was from the CEB’s end. Speaking to The Sunday Morning,CEB General Manager Keerthi Karunaratne said the CEB was waiting for the PUCSL’s approval to go ahead with the power purchasing to avoid any power cuts during the drought period. The agreement was to purchase 128 MW for a period of one year, he said, adding that it was the only amount the board would spend on emergency power for the year. “Once the PUCSL’s approval was received, the power would be added to the national grid within one-and-a-half months,” Karunaratne noted. “We had already selected the private power company through an open tendering process and once the whole tender process was done, Cabinet approval was received,” he explained. The CEB DG was confident of receiving the approval from the PUCSL for the purchase of emergency power. However, when The Sunday Morning queried, the PUCSL said it was yet to receive the final selections for the purchasing of emergency power which had been approved by the Cabinet. According to PUCSL’s Corporate Communications Director Jayanat Herat, the PUCSL had already approved several emergency power purchasing plans that had been sent by the CEB, but the CEB instead of going ahead with the approved plan had decided to purchase emergency power for a short period and to later extend the agreement. At the end of last year, the PUCSL approved the purchase of 200 MW for 30 months and then again last January it had approved 200 MW. The tender notice was published for just 128 MW, he said, adding that the investor had also asked for land for a 12-month period for which the cost would be much higher. According to the PUCSL, there had been an issue with the CEB’s forecasting and it had led the board to incur high losses as the extending of already signed agreements cost more.