A five-member civil society private committee has been appointed to make recommendations on alleged serious risks to electricity consumer rights amid the current challenges in the energy sector.

The members of the committee, appointed by the Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA), include the former Secretary to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Serious Corruption and Fraud, Lacille de Silva (Chairperson), energy expert Asoka Abeygunawardana, chartered mechanical engineer Parakrama Jayasinghe, green energy consultant Aruna Kadurupokuna, and energy engineer Dr. Arjuna Perera.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Abeygunawardana said that the Government is currently in the process of amending the Electricity Act, No. 36 of 2024 and claimed that the proposed amendments pose a significant threat to the rights of electricity consumers. He said that they (the committee) intend to submit recommendations on the proposed amendments to the relevant authorities including the Ministry of Energy and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL). 

“The Government and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) also claim that the recent islandwide power outage was caused by issues with solar panels. However, this is entirely false. The real cause of the power outage was the inefficiency of the CEB. The Government appears to be discouraging the development of the renewable energy sector, which will seriously affect our future. We will also investigate this issue and make recommendations,” he said.

Following the preparation of the report, the committee is planning to hold a public consultation on the matter. They also had discussions with representatives of the PUCSL yesterday (20).

A notification was recently published on the Ministry’s official website, inviting proposals from interested parties regarding amendments to the Electricity Act proposed by a committee headed by the Ministry Secretary.