Former PUCSL Chief challenges CEB proposal for electricity tariff hike

Janaka Ratnayake 

•  Janaka Ratnayake asserts CEB proposal is invalid, unfair, unrealistic 
•  Emphasises history of inaccurate and baseless data in CEB’s proposals
•  Provides evidence contradicting CEB’s projections of hydropower demand, capacities
•  Questions need for tariff hike amid surge in hydropower capacities, low coal prices 
•  Claims CEB made profit in September, challenging idea of tariff hike to cover losses
•  Predicts Rs. 20 b profit for CEB by end of 2023

In a bold stance against the recent proposal set forth by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for an electricity tariff hike, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) former Chairman Janaka Ratnayake asserted that the move is both invalid and unjust.

Ratnayake, an outspoken critic of the CEB’s methods, highlighted glaring discrepancies and impracticalities within the factors cited by the Board to justify the increase. 

“The CEB’s data in these proposals has consistently proven to be inaccurate and unfounded,” he said, adding that the estimates put forward by the CEB have now been unequivocally contradicted by recent data.

Among the four key factors presented by the CEB—higher demand in the fourth quarter, increased costs related to generating for high demand, hydropower capacities and coal prices; Ratnayake argued that all have shown to lack substantiation with the latest available information. 

He pointed out that the actual generation demand for September 2023 fell below the CEB’s projections, a trend that continued into October.

Addressing concerns over depleting hydropower capacities, Ratnayake revealed that the water bodies surrounding power plants are presently at 63% capacity, allowing for the generation of 750 GWh of electricity. This surpasses the CEB’s earlier estimates by a significant margin, resulting in a considerably lower cost of Rs. 5 per unit of electricity through hydropower generation. 

He urged the CEB to pass on these reduced costs to electricity users instead of requesting a tariff hike.

Ratnayake also questioned the rationale behind the tariff hike proposal in light of a reduction in coal prices. He argued that the CEB›s request for a hike appears contradictory amidst such a cost-saving development.

The former Chairman of PUCSL also claimed that the CEB recorded a profit in September, contrary to claims that the tariff hike was necessary to cover losses. 

Ratnayake confidently predicted that the CEB is on track to post a Rs. 20 billion profit by the close of the year.