• PUCSL exhorts after approving special rate for street lamps for LG bodies 

In the wake of revelations that most Local Government (LG) authorities, including the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), have defaulted on paying electricity bills for street lamps, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) stated that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) should take steps to recover the dues in the same manner that it does with ordinary consumers.

When queried by The Daily Morning regarding the matter, PUCSL Director – Communications Jayanath Herath said that while determining the relevant electricity charges is the Commission’s responsibility, collecting those payments is the duty of the CEB. “We have no responsibility in that regard. The LG institutions have to pay, and the CEB has to collect the payments. If it does not happen, it is a deficiency on the part of the CEB.”

Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and LG, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna and Deputy subject Minister Prabha Ruwan Senarath were not available for comment.

Minister of Energy, engineer Kumara Jayakody told the Parliament on Wednesday (12) that almost all LG authorities, including the CMC, have failed to settle their electricity bills for street lighting. Responding to an oral question raised by Parliamentarian Dharmapriya Dissanayake, he said that a special rate for street lamps had already been approved by the PUCSL.

Meanwhile, the Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA) recently urged the authorities to ensure that bills for streetlights are paid on time, claiming that the burden of unpaid costs is being unfairly passed on to ordinary consumers through tariff revisions. ECA General Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said that there are more than 700,000 streetlights across the country, with the responsibility for payment resting on institutions such as the Road Development Authority, MCs, Urban Councils, and Pradeshiya Sabhas.

Street lighting accounts for about 1.5% of Sri Lanka’s total electricity demand. Most of the approximately 700,000 street lamps are mounted on medium voltage or low voltage poles used in the distribution network, with dedicated street lighting poles mainly found in urban areas.