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Kanchana says electricity tariff hike only after PUCSL approval

03 May 2022

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that an electricity tariff hike will only occur after the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) approval is granted for it. Speaking at a media briefing on Monday (2), Wijesekera said that the PUCSL should first approve an electricity tariff hike before it is sent to the Cabinet of Ministers for a decision on how the tariff will be increased. “The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has given a report on its costs and income to the PUCSL, requesting a hike. The CEB has requested a 100% hike for some categories and less for others. Despite such a request, as a policy, the Government’s main aim is to reduce the generation cost and increase the capacity of the electricity grid,” said Wijesekera. He added that the PUCSL must first approve such a price hike. Last week, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said that the PUCSL had written to the Power and Energy Ministry expecting relevant policy guidelines by the Government to reach a decision on the electricity tariff. “The PUCSL expects the policy guidelines of the Government as indicated in Section 12 of the General Policy Guidelines issued on 12 October 2021, and Section 5 of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 20 of 2009, in order to decide the electricity tariff as per Section 30 of the said Electricity Act,” read a letter by Ratnayake to the Ministry on 25 April. Speaking to the media on 26 April, Ratnayake said that the CEB has twice requested a tariff hike this year – once on 19 March, and again on 21 April. “However, we first need the policy guidelines from the Government. They must tell us what kind of relief they are willing to provide to the public. After that, we will hold a public consultation process and then decide on the electricity tariff,” said Ratnayake. In his letter to the Ministry, Ratnayake said that the CEB’s proposed tariff increase of 82.4% is expected to fully recover the forecast costs of Rs. 505 billion for this year.  


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