The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is expected to announce its recommendation regarding the proposed electricity tariff revision on Friday (30 June).
It is understood that the PUCSL will hold another round of public consultations on Tuesday (27), following which a decision may be communicated to the Ministry of Power and Energy by newly-appointed PUCSL Chairman Prof. Manjula Fernando.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Spokesman and Additional General Manager (Generation) Dhammika Navaratne said that the CEB had already submitted the tariff revision proposals to the PUCSL and was now awaiting its approval.
According to Navaratne, the proposed revision by the CEB will see electricity users under the electricity unit category of 0-90 and hoteliers benefitting.
“The board will not facilitate further reductions even if the PUCSL suggests any following its public consultations, as the reductions suggested by the CEB were the maximum reductions it could have provided under the current situation,” Navaratne added.
The Sunday Morning previously reported that the CEB had proposed a tariff reduction of approximately 28% for over 1.7 million domestic electricity consumers who fall under the consumption block of 0-30 units and a 10% tariff reduction for the consumers who fall under the user category of 31-60 units.
The CEB has also suggested a 7% reduction for those who fall under the 61-90 unit category. The consumers falling under unit categories of 91-120, 121-180, and 181-above will see a reduction of 5%, 3%, and 2% respectively of their total bill from 1 July.
Further, according to the proposed tariff revision suggested by the CEB for the second half of this year, the fixed charges of consumers falling under the categories of 91-120, 121-180 and 181-above will remain unchanged, while the fixed rates of those who fall under 0-30, 31-60, and 61-90 will be reduced from the current rates of Rs. 400, Rs. 550, and Rs. 650 to Rs. 250, Rs. 500, and Rs. 600 respectively. The unit charges too will be dropped from Rs. 30, Rs. 37, and Rs. 42 to Rs. 25, Rs. 36, and Rs. 39 respectively.
The CEB did two electricity tariff revisions amounting to 75% in August 2022 and 66% in February under the approval of the PUCSL.
However, due to the absence of a cost-reflective tariff for more than 10 years until 15 February this year, it is said that the CEB had been operating amid continuous financial losses. As per statistics, the recorded loss is Rs. 167 billion for 2022 and Rs. 30.7 billion for January and February 2023.
Statistics issued by the CEB revealed that with the negative operating cash flows for over 10 years, the CEB was compelled to source working capital requirements from both Government and private financial institutions in order to continue its core business activities, mainly for coal and fuel, as well as to partially settle the outstanding payments relating to IPP, NCRE, CPC, etc.
Although the CEB managed to pay a certain amount of debt to its major creditors during the past few months, the total payable balances still remain at an unprecedented level of Rs. 516.7 billion as at 30 April, according to the CEB.
When contacted, CEB Chairman Nalinda Illangakoon said the suggestions must come from the PUCSL this week in order to be implemented as planned from 1 July. “We will have to announce the new tariffs soon after we get the approval from the PUCSL and we are confident that the commission will approve those suggested by the CEB,” he added.
The new tariffs are supposed to come into effect from 1 July. As per the latest electricity tariff mechanism, the tariff will be reviewed twice annually.
The adjusted tariff is to be announced on 1 January and 1 July every year. The upcoming tariff revision is the first review to come into effect since the dramatic tariff hike introduced in February this year.
– By Maheesha Mudugamuwa