Vichara

The inconsiderate hike of electricity tariff by the CEB with the approval of the government is the unbearable burden on electricity consumers who are already battered by an unremittingly high cost of living. The Minister of Power has already obtained Cabinet approval to revise prices every three months. This means that there will be further tariff hikes in the near future.

In this horrible malfeasance by the authorities an explanation of the authorities is due.  .

It is recalled that in introducing the Sri Lanka Electricity (amendment) bill in Parliament on 9 June 2022 Minister Kanchana Wijesekera revealed that there are renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 4000 MW where Energy Permits have been given BUT THE CEB HAS STILL NOT GRANTED POWER PURCHASE APPROVAL.” He gave details of the projects pending CEB PPA as follows:

1.Hydro power of 580 MW not approved for 6 years

2 Wind Power project of 769 MW

3 Solar power projects of 2538 MW

4. Biomass 136 MW

Total of 4000MW “

He also mentioned that the average cost of renewable energy is 16.90 per unit, whereas the cost of energy from thermal plants is over Rs 60. The Minster was critical of the bureaucracy in the CEB where they prefer to look for provisions in the law how to reject a proposal than to approve it.

It is estimated that the Islands requirement of power is around 2700 MW. It is noted that if the Power Purchase Agreements of even half the 4000 MW of projects already in the pipeline are approved there is no need to resort to expensive thermal power and no need to increase tariffs. It is also noted that there was over one year from the time of the Minister’s statement in Parliament to the date of the last price hike, to resolve any technical or legal issues involved in these projects.

There are some people who try to shift the blame on the IMF for electricity tariff hikes. The IMF recommendation on the pricing policy of all state enterprises is that they should be on a cost recovery” basis. There has been no serious effort to reduce costs in the CEB. The cost of overstaffing, over payments, excessive perks, corruption, and underhand deals have not been even looked at. Where in the world are the salaries of all employees are increased by 25% once in three years. This is equivalent to an increase of the salary bill of the CEB by double almost every 9 years. The present pricing policy of the CEB is not transparent and is not cost reflective but cost deflective.

The PUCSL is only a rubber stamp of the CEB. Before they approved the last tariff hike, they staged mock sessions of public hearing to which the information in this note was presented by email. There was not even an acknowledgement. 

An element of judicial intervention in a bad executive decision was seen in the recent Courts of Appeal order on the retirement of nurses at 60 years of age. It is encouraging that the Courts have seen it necessary to intercede to ensure justice in executive excesses.

Any organization which is actively opposing the tariff hike and are engaged in road demonstrations should appeal to the Courts for redress. Although most opposition parties are instigating and participating in these demonstrations it is unlikely that they like the problem to disappear. These charlatans are aware that this burning issue which affects all voters would be a decisive factor in a future election.  They like it to be aflame and fan the flames.

Playing with electricity is a dangerous game which could lead to electrocution.