Power tariff likely to be reduced in October – Minister

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera yesterday said that he is ready to have a debate with the NPP policy with regard to power and energy, power tariff and procurement process.

He added that the power and energy sector in the country plunged into unprecedented crisis after the JVP obstructed the construction of new power plants by turning them into political issues.

“The JVP and its affiliated trade unions have obstructed the construction of new power plants in the country to ensure uninterrupted power supply,”he said.

The Minister was speaking at a press conference held in Colombo yesterday.Minister Wijesekera said that there is a possibility to give further  tariff reduction for the consumers by October this year.

“As the country is experiencing heavy shower these months, we expect to reduce the power tariff further during the next revision which is to take place in October,”he said. He said that the country experienced more than 16 hour power interruption  due to the economic crisis. The prices of fuel and furnace oil shot up unprecedentedly due to the Ukraine-Russia war.

The Minister said that the government was left with no alternative other than introducing a fuel price formula according to the price fluctuations internationally.

The Minister said that payments were not made to the renewable power suppliers and the two state banks had to bear debt burden of above Rs.300 billion.“The CEB was running at a loss of Rs.300 billion by 2012,” he said.

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