Severe drought led to Rs. 18 Bn loss for CEB – Acting GM

Acting Ceylon Electricity Board General Manager Dr. Narendra De Silva said that unless there is an exceptional situation such as a drought or an increase in the price of crude oil in the world market, there will be no increase in electricity tariffs until June 1 next year.

Also, the Acting General Manager said that the estimated loss of 18 billion rupees that will be incurred by the Electricity Board this year (2023) will be made possible by the electricity tariff revision made yesterday (20).

He emphasised this while attending a special press conference held at the Ceylon Electricity Board headquarters yesterday (20).

The Acting General Manager said that it was predicted to produce 4,500 Gigawatt hours of electricity from hydroelectricity this year. But it was able to achieve as much as 3,750 Gigawatt hours due to the drought situation experienced in the country. Therefore, a special method had to be used to meet the country’s electricity needs. In taking action for that, the cost of production increased, he said.

“It is on the basis of such exceptional circumstances that we revised the electricity tariff this time. We can revise the electricity tariff twice a year as per the Electricity Act. Therefore, the two revisions usually take place on January 1 and July 1 of any year. In addition to this opportunity, electricity charges can be revised one more time. We have to present the special facts for that to the Public Utilities Commission. They consider the matter in depth, consult public opinion and approve the price revision,” he added.

The special feature of the price revision done this time is that the electricity tariff revision which should have been done on January 1, 2024, was done on October 20. Therefore, unless exceptional reasons arise again, it will not need to increase electricity rates until June 1 next year, he added.

Electricity tariff revision is done to remove the loss of the Electricity Board. As a country, it must work to maintain a system of charging electricity charges that matches the cost of electricity production in the long run.

He stressed that people should take measures to reduce wastage in electricity consumption.

“We all are duty bound to use electricity as sparingly as we all can”. He said that new advanced methods should be adopted to collect and store the hydroelectricity produced during the rainy periods and there is much water.

Additional General Manager (Corporate Strategy) of Ceylon Electricity Board Hemantha Ranasinghe said that measures are being taken to increase electricity production opportunities through the renewable energy sector as much as possible. In the next three years, 1,700 megawatts of renewable electricity will be produced in this sector. Efforts are being made to speed up investments and projects to increase the production of renewable energy by removing obstacles, he added.

“We are giving necessary encouragement, approvals and recommendations so that renewable projects can be started very soon,” Ranasinghe said.

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