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PUCSL hoping rain or Treasury cover revenue shortfall from temples 

18 Oct 2022

  • Rs. 2 bn revenue lost due to last week’s religious places’ concession
Treasury to refuse such a request as proposal not in interim Budget  BY Safrah Fazal The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) hopes to cover the electricity tariff related revenue shortfall from religious institutions resulting from the 50% concession announced last week through additional hydropower generation made possible by the heavy rainfall recorded over the past few weeks or through the Treasury, The Morning learnt, even though the Treasury told The Morning that they can bankroll only the proposals mentioned in the 2022 interim Budget. The revenue requirement, as filed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), is estimated at Rs. 505 billion (excluding Lanka Electricity Company [Pvt.] Ltd. [LECO] costs), while the overall increase in revenue through the proposed tariff revisions announced in August of this year is estimated at Rs. 512 billion (including LECO sales). The estimated costs of the CEB are subject to change based on various factors, of which one is the weather conditions. However, the impact of the electricity tariff concessions announced by the PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake for places of worship from Rs. 65 to Rs. 32 for the consumption of electricity above 180 units, granted following opposition by monks, amounts to approximately Rs. 2 billion, which, well placed sources, said the PUCSL hopes to cover through the expected annual revenue. The PUCSL hopes that the CEB’s costs will be reduced with the increase in electricity supply through hydropower generation that is made possible through the steady rainfall experienced over the recent weeks that reduces the CEB’s expenditure on fuel.  However, if the country sees a decline in rainfall, the CEB’s costs may increase, perhaps above the estimated Rs. 505 billion, in turn requiring the intervention of the Treasury to provide approximately Rs. 2 billion to make up for the loss made through the concessions granted for places of worship, sources told The Morning. When The Morning contacted the Treasury Deputy Secretary R.M.P. Rathnayake to find out whether the Treasury could accommodate an amount of approximately Rs. 2 billion to the CEB, he said: “Rs. 2 billion is not estimated in our cash flow. Therefore, if such a request is made, it cannot be accommodated within the Parliament-approved Budget.” When The Morning contacted PUCSL Chairman Ratnayake, he stated that the public would not bear the brunt of the concessions granted to the religious institutions.  “This is not a cash subsidy. We have changed its classification and brought it under the ‘General Purpose’ category. The public will not be charged. Religious institutions will pay their consumption accordingly.” With the new tariffs proposed in August, religious institutions that consume over 180 units were required to pay Rs. 65 per unit; however, under the General Purpose category, only Rs. 32 per unit is charged for the consumption of over 180 units. Speaking further, he said: “Previously, they paid only Rs. 1.70 per unit of electricity consumption, which is far below the cost. The cost is around Rs. 32, and therefore, they are paying the cost, unlike before. The tariff of Rs. 32 should be paid by everyone in that category.” Speaking at a media briefing on 15 October, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera stated that the PUCSL should inform the CEB as to who will have to bear the costs of the concession offered to places of worship as the Treasury has already informed that they are unable to bear such a cost.


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