by Ifham Nizam

A tug-o-war between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) continues, with the former calling for another electricity tariff hike. A senior management official of the CEB told The Island that despite the price hike CEB would lose Rs. 12.00 per unit. “Our income is Rs. 264 million and expenses stand at Rs. 600 million. We need Rs. 800 million to cover up but we get only Rs. 400 million,” he added.Structural reforms would certainly fatten the electricity bills unless authorities find a method to cover up the difference or consumers will have to be in the dark, he said.

Others however insist that authorities will first have to make CEB more efficient by shedding its dead weight and eliminating corruption as the public utility is too unwieldy with a huge unproductive staff; much of its work is subcontracted to outside companies.Current rains have helped increase hydro power generation. The Castlereagh, Mousakelle, Victoria and Kotmale reservoirs are almost brimful.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera last week said: “Even though a hike is a very difficult thing for the people, it must be done at this time

“The CEB needs to pay Rs. 76.8 billion to private power plants and Rs. 29 billion for renewables including rooftop solar. Ceypetco has to pay 31 billion rupees.”

The minister said that even though the CEB had expected revenue of 869 billion rupees from tariff hikes, the PUCSL had only given approval for Rs. 500 billion.

“A tariff increase is a must, and that has been done with measures being adopted to protect the low-consumption groups,” he said.

The majority of Sri Lanka’s electricity consumers use fewer than 30 units a month, and the current tariff rates offer that group a 75 percent subsidy on the rate per unit.