Electricity bill to be increased only from April 1-30 to pay retirement benefits to electricity employees.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Anil Jayantha Fernando, has stated that electricity tariffs will be reduced through a three-year long-term plan that the government expects to implement, and that such price increases are temporary, amidst the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) proposing a 13.56 percent increase in electricity tariffs for the second quarter of this year. The Deputy Minister further pointed out that these tariffs are determined according to a mechanism to cover electricity generation costs, and that the government has introduced a more concessional mechanism, even lower than the generation cost, for special categories such as low-income families and religious institutions.

According to this new proposal, submitted to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka under the signature of Engineer K.S.I. Kumara, General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board, a tariff revision has been requested for the period from April 01 to June 30. A major reason for this is the need to pay an gratuity of approximately 150 crore rupees to employees who voluntarily retire during the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board. Furthermore, the maintenance work at the main hydropower plants of Randenigala, Victoria, and Samanala will halt their operations for several weeks, necessitating the purchase of electricity from fuel-based power plants at a higher cost during that period, along with increased transmission costs, which are other factors contributing to this tariff increase.

According to the new proposal, the price of an electricity unit will significantly increase. Under this, the current charge of Rs. 4.50 for the 0-30 unit category is set to increase to Rs. 5.11, and the existing tariff of Rs. 8.00 for the 31-60 unit category will increase to Rs. 9.08. For consumption between 61-90 units, the price per unit, which was Rs. 18.50, is proposed to increase to Rs. 21.01, and for consumption between 91-120 units, the tariff of Rs. 24 is proposed to increase to Rs. 27.25. Additionally, the Electricity Board has requested to raise the price per unit from Rs. 41 to Rs. 46.56 for the 121-180 unit category, and from Rs. 61 to Rs. 69.27 for the category above 181 units.

In addition to the amount of units consumed, the monthly fixed charge levied on consumers is also planned to be increased through this proposal. The fixed charge for consumers in the 0-30 unit category, which was Rs. 80, will be increased to Rs. 90.85, and for the 31-60 unit category, it will increase from Rs. 210 to Rs. 238.48. For the 61-90 unit category, it is set to rise from Rs. 400 to Rs. 454.24, and for the 91-120 unit category, the fixed charge of Rs. 1,000 will increase to Rs. 1135.60. It has been proposed to revise the fixed charges for the 121-180 unit category to Rs. 1703.40 instead of Rs. 1500, and for the category above 181 units to Rs. 2384.76 instead of Rs. 2100.

A senior official of the Public Utilities Commission, commenting on this proposal to increase tariffs, stated that these matters will be thoroughly considered in accordance with the Commission Act. Accordingly, the final decision regarding the electricity tariff revision is expected to be announced in the last week of March. Previously, a proposal submitted by the Ceylon Electricity Board to increase electricity tariffs for the first quarter of this year was also rejected by the Public Utilities Commission based on technical issues.