The Sri Lanka Electricity Board has submitted a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission to increase the electricity tariffs by 32% to earn fifty-four billion rupees needed to produce electricity for the next three months. Sri Lanka Latest News
This is stated in a letter sent yesterday (4) by the General Manager of Ceylon Electricity Board Rohan Seneviratne to the Director General of the Public Utilities Commission.
The Ceylon Electricity Board is of the opinion that the production of 3500 megawatts of electricity may face a severe crisis due to the decrease in hydropower production due to severe drought.
Accordingly, it is estimated that the amount of 42 rupees charged for an electricity unit will have to be increased to 56 rupees. The Ceylon Electricity Board declares that since the government has taken a principled decision to provide electricity 24 hours a day, it will also have to obtain electricity from thermal power plants.
Three electricity tariff revisions have been made since August 2022. Sanjeeva Dhammika, National Secretary of the Electricity Users Association, said that if the proposed rate hike is carried out, the rates have been increased by more than 200% within a year.
It was during a press conference held yesterday (5) in Colombo. He also accused the government of taking this step with the aim of fulfilling the conditions of the International Monetary Fund.
