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Power crisis: PUCSL intervenes to help CEB make Rs. 250 m payment

19 Feb 2022

  • CPC agrees to supply fuel, pending payments next week
By Asiri Fernando The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) last week came to the aid of the State-owned power utility, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) by facilitating a short-term loan of Rs. 250 million from Lanka Electricity Co. (Pvt.) Ltd. (LECO), in order to purchase fuel from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to sustain power generation, The Sunday Morning learns. According to CEB sources, the debt-ridden utility was unable to pay for fuel needed to fire thermal power plants and generators, which triggered brief power cuts on Friday (18) as several power plants and generator units ran out of furnace oil and diesel. Responding to a query, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said the regulator had held stakeholder consultations regarding the CEB’s ability to make payments and facilitated a short-term loan of Rs. 250 million from the profit-making utility provider, LECO. The Sunday Morning reliably learns that the loan will come into effect tomorrow (21) and is expected to grant the CEB the ability to purchase necessary fuel stocks from the CPC for a short while. According to CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe, the petroleum supplier has begun to issue fuel needed for power generation based on a guarantee that payments will be made early next week once the loan has materialised. The tug-of-war between the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Energy over long-standing debt and payments for new supply continues, with consumers who pay the mandated price for both electricity and fuel left in the dark, at an increasing frequency.   


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