• STRAP: Charges that Ministry and CEB has violated regulators directives

The Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA) yesterday warned of legal action against the Minister of Power and Energy and the General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for allegedly acting contrary to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the revision of tariff rates paid for new rooftop solar and renewable energy projects.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (25), the General Secretary of the ECA Sanjeewa Dhammika said that the Cabinet decision to revise the relevant tariff rates was taken subject to the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

However, he said that the Power and Energy Minister and the General Manager of the CEB have worked to implement the tariff rate revision in question, even when the PUCSL had recommended that it should not be implemented until they analyse the relevant data.

“The Cabinet decision related to this matter clearly states that the approval of the PUCSL should be obtained before implementing the tariff rate revision. The PUCSL has informed CEB General Manager Prof. Narednra de Silva in writing not to implement this tariff revision until the relevant data is analysed and a decision is given. Despite this, the general manager has instructed the concerned officials to implement the tariff rate revision with effect from 2 July. This is totally violating the relevant legal provisions.”

Dhammika further charged that there may be an ulterior motive to reduce solar energy generation capacity and make emergency power purchases in the sudden reduction of tariff rates paid for solar panels, discouraging local entrepreneurs who have invested in those projects. “More than 5,000 families have become destitute because of this. There is a reasonable suspicion that this is for the purpose of making emergency power purchases. Therefore, we will definitely file a case against the subject minister and CEB General Manager in the coming days.”

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, Dr. de Silva, and the CEB were not available for comment.

A proposal presented by Wijesekera for the revision of the tariff rates paid for the said projects through the feeding tariff had recently been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The revised tariff rates were to be applied to all new projects from 2 July. The revised rooftop tariff – 20 years flat rate is Rs. 27.06 up to 500 kilowatts (kW), and Rs. 23.18 for over 500 kW, while the revised feeding tariff – 20 years flat rate is Rs. 25.48 for solar, Rs. 30.53 for mini-hydro, Rs. 29.86 for wind, and Rs. 52.77 for biomass. The PUCSL's Director General Damitha Kumarasinghe had then informed the relevant officials, including Dr. de Silva, not to implement the revised tariff rates until they (PUCSL) gather and analyse the relevant data.