• A truly independent regulator should comment: CEB

The Electricity Consumers Association (ECA) accused the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) of submitting incorrect data to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and repeatedly delaying electricity tariff revisions, with the commission allegedly adopting a lax policy in response.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, ECA General Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said that although the electricity tariff revision should have taken place in September of this year, it will now happen only in January of next year (2025). Claiming that the CEB submitted inaccurate data regarding their income and profit status at the first instance, he said that this led to the two institutions (CEB and PUCSL) exchanging letters to request and grant additional time for the revised data to be submitted.

"Every time an electricity tariff revision was to be made, the CEB submitted inaccurate data from the past. Instead of taking the necessary action against the submission of such data, the PUCSL keeps sending letters. In the end, the people end up watching their drama and losing the benefit they should receive. Why can the CEB not submit accurate data at the first instance? If they do it, the tariff revision can be implemented within the due time frame. I think all these are dramas staged by the CEB with the support of the PUCSL,” he said.

Speaking further, he said that substantial rainfall across many parts of the country over the past few months led to peak hydropower generation, which should have benefited the public. "The CEB has to bear a very little cost for hydropower generation. However, with continuous tariff revision delays, the public is not receiving its benefits. The Government is also supporting this move by not appointing members to the PUCSL. The Constitutional Council (CC) is still active. Why can the President not appoint PUCSL members? The new Government also allows CEB to go ahead with their malpractices."

Through a letter dated 7 November addressed to the PUCSL's Director General, CEB General Manager R.F. Comester informed that the CEB is in the process of formulating an end user tariff revision proposal for the year 2025. However, he said that it has been identified that an additional two weeks would be required to finalise the input data necessary for the proposal. He had therefore requested the PUCSL to grant a time extension, preferably two-weeks, from the original deadline of 8 November, to submit a comprehensive tariff proposal. In a reply letter dated 8 November, the PUCSL had granted a two weeks extension for the tariff submission as was requested by the CEB.

When contacted by The Daily Morning, CEB Chairperson Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya said: "A tariff filing carries a forecast of sales and costs. A forecast has many assumptions. They are not inaccurate. A truly independent regulator should comment on the assumptions."

The PUCSL was not available for comment.