Stakeholders suggest power performance management for CEB
A power performance management system has been proposed for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to cut down costs while tackling technical and financial inefficiency, as well as corruption, waste and procurement irregularities.
This proposal was made at the stakeholder consultation on the proposed electricity tariff revision 2023 convened by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) in Colombo this week.
It has been, suggested to introduce a power demand management system of 4 per cent per annum reducing the electricity demand by one Giga Watt hour per day.
This could easily replace the current procedure of demand and supply and electricity tariff in proportionate to the cost factor, Chairperson of National Council sub-committee on economic stabilisation, and former Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the PUCSL.
The price of a crude oil barrel has come down to US$ 80 at present from $130 sometime ago and the price of a metric ton has declined to $210/200 from $330, he said adding that there was a need to change the present electricity pricing formula.
He also requested the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to supply coal and fuel at CFI price to maintain the power tariff at a very reasonable level.
The government is levying exorbitant tax on fuel and coal imports making the CEB and CPC huge debtors of the two state banks, he revealed.
It has been observed at the meeting that the monthly revenue of the CEB increased to Rs. 35-36 billion from Rs. 20 billion per month due to the electricity tariff hike introduced in August 2022.
The price of crude oil and coal has come down significantly and its benefits should be passed on to consumers, participants at the consultation meeting, said.
The finance cost of the CEB has been increased by 10 times to Rs. 6,000 million in December 2022 from Rs. 600 million in January 2022 due to high interest costs, CEB data shows.
Under this setup, around 3.4 million poor consumers using less than 60 units had to pay a 250 per cent increase although the proposed average hike is around 60 per cent for their electricity bills, in accordance with the present tariff revision, they complained.
However the CEB is facing a severe financial crisis with no rupees or dollars to pay oil and coal shipments as its outstanding amounts to key organisations are, among others, CPC Rs. 112 billion, renewable energy suppliers Rs. 40 billion, rooftop solar providers Rs. 4 billion, private power plants Rs. 80 billion, monthly bank loans interest Rs. 10 billion and Rs. 35 billion for coal payments for February 2023.
The government is levying exorbitant tax on fuel and coal imports making the CEB and CPC huge debtors of the two state banks, he revealed.