BY P. Waravita The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) yesterday (9) approved an average 75% price hike for electricity tariffs for all electricity consumers in the country, which PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said was the first electricity tariff hike in nine years.Addressing a media briefing held yesterday, Ratnayake said that the electricity tariff hike was made after two proposals forwarded by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) this year to hike prices. Accordingly, consumers who use 30 or less units will face a 264% increase, bringing their average monthly bill to Rs. 198. Consumers who use 30 to 60 units will face a 211% increase, which will result in an average monthly bill of Rs. 599. Furthermore, consumers using 61 to 90 units will face a 125% hike, leading to an average monthly bill of Rs. 1,461. Following the CEB’s request to hike the electricity tariff, the PUCSL held a public consultation about it on 28 July. Reportedly, many of the participants had stressed that an electricity tariff hike cannot be justified in the current climate, as the daily cost of living is at an all time high with Sri Lanka facing its most serious economic crisis in history. “The CEB had submitted two proposals to the PUCSL to increase the tariffs by 183% and 229%. Both these proposals were not approved. We have taken steps to impose a reasonable tariff rate instead. Although it costs Rs. 32 to generate a unit of electricity at present, the entire cost burden is not imposed on the electricity consumers in order to protect the majority of the consumers in the domestic sector. The consumers with consumption less than 30 units will be charged 25% of the cost. They still get a 75% subsidy. “The consumers coming under the category of above 31 units and below 60 units are charged 40% of the total cost. They will get a 60% subsidy. Only 50% of the actual cost is charged from the category of units above 61 and below 90. Accordingly, I must emphasise that 75% of the electricity consumers are still being subsidised even with the new tariff revision,” said Rathnayake. He added that although the PUCSL had requested the Government to give relief to these groups, the Finance Ministry had said that they have already given Rs. 85 billion to the CEB this year, mostly for fuel purchases for its thermal power plants. When Ratnayake spoke with The Morning last week, he noted that the Treasury had denied a Rs. 65 billion subsidy for low-income earners which the PUCSL had requested.“We also decided to impose conditions on the CEB to implement the suggestions that arose at the public consultation process. The conditions include conducting an independent audit with specific dates with regard to purchasing electricity. These conditions should be met by February of next year. “With that, the public can take action on the proposals made regarding the fairness of the electricity costs. The Lanka Electricity Company Limited (LECO) started paying interest for security deposits of electricity consumers last year. We decided that the CEB should also start paying interest on electricity consumer guarantee deposits from October.”Furthermore, Ratnayake said that the new tariff revision will provide relief to the hotel and industrial sectors.“During the last nine years, the value of the United States dollar (USD) has increased by 190%. Therefore, the industries in the export sector will not be greatly affected by this electricity tariff revision. Instead of the 116% tariff increase proposed by the CEB for industries, hotels and general purpose sectors with low electricity consumption, they will get an approved tariff increase of 39% for the public sector and 75% for the industrial sector. “Only 50% of the increase in the approved rates, especially for the tourism sector, will come into effect today (10). The remaining 50% tariff increase will come into effect after another three months as a relief, facilitating the tourism industry to recover. In addition, it has been decided to provide a 1.5% discount when electricity bills are paid in USD as a relief to the tourism and export industries.”Ratnayake also explained that since during the public consultation on the tariff revision, the users of solar panel systems have pointed out that charging a monthly fee on their overall consumption is unfair, the PUCSL has decided that the fixed charges should be determined on the basis of net consumption after deducting the amount of electricity units generated from their total consumption. “With that decision being implemented, the electricity consumers who own solar power systems do not have to pay a monthly fixed fee if they generate electricity more than the consumption.”Meanwhile, the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to revise the tariffs for water and sewerage, the Department of Government Information noted yesterday (9).Reportedly, the tariff revision is slated to be based on the cost.The Government said it identified the need to increase the water and sewerage tariffs in order to ensure an uninterrupted supply of water supply and the financial stability of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB).Accordingly, the proposal presented by Minister of Water Supply Keheliya Rambukwella to amend the water and sewerage tariffs to cover the recurrent expenses and debt servicing liabilities of the NWSDB was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
