Champika Vs Kanchana On CEB Tariffs
Shakila Ifham
January 5, 2023
A senior electrical engineer of the Ceylon Electricity Board yesterday said that though former Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera are partly correct in their stance, but they are not fully aware about the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) income generated after tariff hike in August or the seasonal high percentage of hydro intake for generation at present contributing to that.
Meanwhile, the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) which had discussions with JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that they would spell out their stance on the battle between the two sides shortly in detail.
One time Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday dismissed claims made by the Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera over the recent profits made by the Board.
On Tuesday (January 3), Minister Wijesekera tweeted that the CEB was making operating profits during October and November each year due to the increase in hydropower usage.
Wijesekera stressed that the operational profits were not due to the tariff adjustments made in August 2022, and states that the CEBs own financial statements from 2017 to 2022 highlight the false and misleading comments made by the Electricity Sector Regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka and former Minister Ranawaka.
In response, the former Minister, who is himself an Electrical Engineer by profession pointed out that if the tariff was not increased in October 2022 the Board would be making a loss of a whopping Rs. 11 billion per month.
Referring to statements on power generation, he noted that hydropower usage during October and November in 2022 were 635.5 Gwh (GIGA WATT HOURS) & 655.0 Gwh (GIGA WATT HOURS) respectively, and thus reducing expenditure of the Ceylon Electricity Board.
Wijesekera reiterated that the proposed tariff structure had been proposed by the CEB.
The minister has shared the proposed tariff structure for a cost-reflective electricity pricing formula on his official Twitter account as an official message.
Accordingly, there are details relating to the tariff structure that was effective from 2014 to August 2022, the revised tariff structure in August 2022, and the proposed tariff structure from January 2
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