EDITORIAL - The CEB’s attitude is shocking

Most families—except ministers and MPs whose big bills are paid from public funds—continue to get a shock every month and are inflamed when they see their electricity bills. Families which were paying about Rs. 1,500 a month say their bills have now soared to between Rs.4000 and  Rs. 6,000 a month—a large part of the income they earn.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a widely publicised  May Day announcement last year pledging that the Ceylon Electricity Board’s huge fuel adjustment surcharge would be significantly reduced or removed soon.




With two units of the “always breakdown” Lakvijaya coal power plant now operating, a CEB official says 35 per cent of Sri Lanka’s  power requirement is now produced from the Norochcholai plant at a cost of Rs. 11 a unit compared to Rs. 20 for thermal power. With heavy rains during the past week, more hydro-electric power is also being generated at a low cost. But the CEB insists it cannot reduce the fuel adjustment surcharge because of the heavy fuel bills it has to pay to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, loans taken from state banks and controversial deals with independent power producers (IPPs). Whatever the reasons—whether they are bad management, corruption or frauds—there is no way any official could justify the policy of getting millions of people to pay for the wrongdoings of officials. According to our sister paper the  Sunday Times, the state-owned China Machinery Engineering Corporation has agreed to replace the huge malfunctioning condenser and rectify any other defects at the Norochcholai plant. This will be done in July at the expense of the Chinese company which built it.




Meanwhile there is also controversy over the contracts signed by the CEB with IPPs. Some of these contracts have already lapsed and others are to lapse soon with energy experts saying they see no reason why the CEB should buy power from these IPPs at a relatively high cost, when the coal power and hydro-power stations are producing so much electricity.
The newspaper quoted energy consultant Tilak Siyambalapitiya as saying the contracts between the CEB and the IPPs made no mention about any extension and there was no reason to extend these contracts which were signed in the 1990s when the government had no coal power. The IPPs sell power to the CEB at more than Rs. 20 a unit and there is little or no reason to continue this when the CEB’s coal power is available at Rs. 11 a unit.




The CEB and other state institutions are run on public money. They cannot and must not be allowed to deal blackout blows to millions of suffering people while allowing some politicians, officials and other racketeers to make millions on energy contracts. The CEB must realise that it is disregarding or even disconnecting a Presidential order by giving excuses that are as fragile as broken wires.
In any event whatever the crosscurrents of the CEB and the government in this era and culture of impunity, the people need to act with enlightened patriotism and take every step to save electricity not only to reduce their bills but also to help the country, to save foreign exchange and for the economy to thereby improve.