• Failure to cut demand will drive up generation costs
• Data gap delays clear reading of public response
• Early signs show positive shift in consumption habits
• End-month revision may factor future demand scenarios

The Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) warned yesterday (26) that if electricity consumption during peak demand hours is not reduced, the cost of electricity generation would continue to increase, and that a rise in electricity tariffs would eventually become unavoidable.

SEA Chairperson, Dr. Wijendra J. Bandara told The Daily Morning  they are still in the process of assessing the public response to the request made two days ago, urging the consumers to reduce electricity use during peak hours. 

“To assess these matters, it will take time. We made this appeal to the people two days ago. We have to collect data and check the public response,” he said. He added that initial indications suggest the public has responded positively to the request to conserve electricity. “I presume that people have reacted positively. At the moment, we don’t have sufficient data. Soon after we receive the data, we will publish it."

Dr. Bandara said that at present, there is no interruption to the electricity supply and that fuel stocks are available to maintain operations. “For now, there is no interruption to the electricity supply. We don’t know about the future, but, at the moment, there is no issue. We have enough stocks of fuel, and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has stated that it would provide the required fuel,” he said.

However, he cautioned that managing electricity consumption during peak hours remains essential to controlling costs. “During peak demand times, consumption has to be reduced. If not, the cost of electricity generation will go up. When that happens, the unavoidable thing is that electricity tariffs will have to be increased."

Responding to a question on whether the present situation would be reflected in the tariff revision that is due to be carried out at the end of this month (March), Dr. Bandara said that the necessary data for the revision has already been collected. “The data required for the tariff revision has already been collected, future scenarios may also have been included in the analysis,” he said.

The National System Operators Private Limited Company and the SLSEA, on Tuesday (24), stated that there is no risk of disruption to the continuous supply of electricity, but urged the public to use electricity more economically and to shift consumption away from the peak hours to reduce fuel use. They encouraged consumers to carry out activities such as washing clothes, charging electric vehicles, and operating electrical appliances during daytime hours, when solar power generation supports the national grid. They explained that daytime generation remains stable due to solar energy, but that the electricity demand between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., particularly between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., requires significant amounts of fuel.