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CEB owes Rs. 76 bn to private energy suppliers

30 Aug 2022

 
  • Kanchana Wijesekera says CEB couldn’t make payments in the past 10 months
  • Tariff hike announced to settle said payments
By Imesh Ranasinghe    The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) owes Rs. 76 billion to the private sector power plants that supplied renewable energy for the last 10 months, as the CEB has not been able to make payments from the revenue earned, said Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera.  Speaking in Parliament yesterday (29), the Minister said that the recently announced price hike on electricity was decided upon with great difficulty as the CEB should make payments to other parties which they owe in huge amounts. He said that the CEB has not been able to make at least payments from the revenue it has earned. He noted that the CEB has to pay Rs. 76.8 billion to the private sector power plants that supplied renewable energy for the past 10 months; moreover, he added that Rs. 29 billion should be paid for renewable energy projects including the Rooftop Solar Power Generation project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), while Rs. 31 billion is due to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). “In order to make these payments, the prices should be reformed and will provide the maximum relief that can be given to the low electricity users,” the Minister said.  In June, Minister Wijesekera said that the CEB incurred a loss of Rs. 65 billion in the first quarter of 2022, prior to the massive increases in fuel prices that came in the second quarter, while the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) stated that the CEB will incur a loss about Rs. 230 billion unless it takes action to increase electricity tariffs this year.  Accordingly, after nine years, the PUCSL announced an electricity tariff hike earlier this month, and the CEB is now permitted to increase rates by 264% to consumers who use below 30 units up to a maximum of Rs. 198, and for those who use 30-60 units, a 211% hike to a maximum of Rs. 599, and for those who use 60-90 units, an increase by 125% has been stipulated, while for those who use above 90 units, the increase will be 75%.      


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