Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the proposal to reduce electricity tariffs by 18 percent or more has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and the tariff increase imposed in October last year will drop by a similar percentage.
It is reported that a domestic customer who received an electricity tariff of Rs. 5,000 will have that amount reduced to around Rs.4,000.
Minister Wijesekera who explained this on Wednesday, February 21, said that in August 2023, the Department of Meteorology, the Water Management Committee and other institutions instructed consumers to use less water based on the predictions given regarding the upcoming drought. Due to the drop in hydroelectricity production, the electricity tariffs of domestic and religious places had to be increased by 18 percent from October, the electricity tariffs of industries and hotels had to be increased by 12 percent and the electricity tariffs of Government institutions and public buildings had to be increased by 24 percent.
The Minister said that there was rain from last October till January this year, unlike in the past five years. Hence, hydropower generation was easy and it was planned to reduce the electricity tariff by three percent.
However, President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet gave instructions to call the relevant parties and look into the areas where the electricity tariff could be further reduced and provide relief to the people. When the stakeholders were called on December 15, they outlined the possibility to further reduce the electricity tariff.
Minister Wijesekera said that another discussion was held in this regard on December 15 and the amendments related to reducing the tariffs were discussed and the recommendations were presented to the PUCSL on February 22.
The strengthening of the rupee, especially in the past few months compared to the US dollar, buying quality coal at the lowest price, the payment of certain loans, the reduction of loan interest and obtaining Naphtha oil at a low price can give the customer the advantage of significantly reduced costs, he said.
The Minister also said that although all the stakeholders were invited to discuss the matter, neither Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa nor any MP participated in it. However, this new amendment was submitted after considering the suggestions of the experts including scholars and professionals in the relevant fields and the public comments submitted to the PUCSL.
