Cabinet nod to revise electricity tariffs every three month

The Cabinet of Ministers approved changing the frequency of power tariff revisions from every six months to every three months. 

This decision comes following a joint Cabinet paper submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance and Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara. 

“The decision was made considering the inconveniences the public has to deal with due to the current biannual tariff revisions by the State-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB),” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena told journalists yesterday. 

He justified the move noting that the three-month revision will be more bearable financially compared to the biannual change with a larger percentage of tariff difference.

Under the provisions of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act No. 20 of 2009, the Minister responsible for the electricity portfolio holds the authority to prepare a general policy guideline on electricity supply, subject to the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. 

Separately, the Cabinet has approved a proposal to conduct a power dispatch audit of the CEB to improve the accuracy of hydroelectricity forecasting with the assistance of the Department of Meteorology.