- To summon relevant parties and hold public hearing for fresh, comprehensive probe
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), disagreeing with the findings of the expert committee report forwarded by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) on the 9 February islandwide power outage, has decided to hold a public hearing to conduct a fresh and comprehensive investigation into the incident.
The CEB announced on 23 April that it had forwarded the said expert committee’s report on the 9 February blackout to the PUCSL for review.
When queried by The Daily Morning as to whether the PUCSL had made any decision on the report, the PUCSL’s Director – Corporate Communications Jayanat Herat said that after studying the report, the commission is of the view that a more comprehensive process was necessary to investigate the incident.
“The PUCSL has decided not to accept that report. Therefore, using the powers vested in us under Section 18 of the PUCSL Act, No.35 of 2002, we have decided to summon the relevant parties, examine the evidence, and carry out a public hearing,” Herat said.
Section 18 of the PUCSL Act states: “The commission may, in discharging the functions assigned to it by or under this act or any other industry act, and where it deems necessary in the public interest, hold a public hearing in order to investigate or determine any matter.”
According to a statement issued by the CEB recently, an expert committee has confirmed that the nationwide blackout was primarily caused by low system inertia – resulting from unusually high solar power contribution — leading to low grid stability. “On the day of the outage, solar photovoltaic sources supplied over half of Sri Lanka’s electricity,” stated the CEB.
“The incident began at the Panadura Grid Substation, triggering a voltage drop during a low-demand ‘Sunny Sunday’. With traditional power plants running at minimal levels, the grid lacked the inertia needed to absorb the shock, leading to cascading failures and a total blackout,” the CEB stated, adding that the committee’s findings aligned with their original statement on 18 February, dismissing claims that the blackout was caused by a defect at the Victoria Power Station.