Power crisis: Who is responsible?

Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers on November 29 have warned of a power cut of more than 10 hours from April to October next year, due to the delay in coal supply for the coal power plants. Three days later, the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), Janaka Ratnayake also confirmed the looming threat of near half-a-day power cut by mid-next year. 

They attribute the situation to the shortage of funds in the CEB to purchase coal before April when the sea becomes rough. Ratnayake had told media that the government and the Treasury must arrange funds for the CEB to purchase coal which they can recover later. The jetty of the Norochcholai coal power plant has been built in such a place that ships carrying coal cannot dock at. Therefore, coal from the ships anchored in deep sea is brought to land by barges. However, when sea gets rough from April to October, this process cannot continue, they argue.
To avert the shortage of coal, 38 shiploads of coal have to reach the country from October this year to April 30 next year and at least 10 shiploads should have arrived already. But only four have reached the shores of the country, they further contend. 

Meanwhile, the representatives of the CEB told the Sub-Committee on Identifying Short and Middle-Term Programmes Related to Economic Stabilization of the National Council headed by Parliamentarian Champika Ranawaka on November 29 that the Cabinet had approved a proposal to increase electricity tariff by 70%. The increase is to be implemented in two phases, one in January and the other in June. However, the tariff is going to be twofold (from an average rate of Rs. 29.14 to Rs. 56.90 per unit), according to the calculations revealed by the CEB yesterday. 

It was within three months after a huge electricity tariff hike having put in place that the new hike and the threat of longer power cut is being announced. In September, the electricity bill was raised by 75% on average, creating a huge outcry especially among the Buddhist clergy, some of whom claimed that they have been forced to pay fivefold as what they paid earlier. 

In fact, despite the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the country’s power regulator having cited the last tariff increase as 75% on average, the effect of it on the individual bills circulated among the domestic consumers point a different picture. Almost all domestic consumers have received a bill with at least double the amount they paid in the previous month. In some cases it has been fivefold. 

Will the people, majority of whom earn a meager income be able to bear another similar burden apart from a longer power cut or will there be another social upheaval, is the question remaining. It must be recalled that the immediate trigger of the recent Aragalaya was the 13-hour power cut in March, despite it was basically a call for a system change or a total overhaul of the socio-economic and political structure.

It is a well-known fact that the cause of the crisis in the power sector is not the recent economic meltdown that was triggered by economic mismanagement as explained by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva. It was the handiwork of a group of high ranking officials who abhor freely available wind, rain water and sun light.  It must be recalled that during a surprise visit to the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 07 on February 18 this year, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa questioned officials on the delay to approve renewable energy projects. On June 9, Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Power and Energy also in a tweet questioned “If the existing CEB Act does not need amendments and has the capability to implement renewable energy projects without delay, why did the CEB deprive many who had requested to do so for years?” Auditor General’s Department too in a Performance Audit Report said in February this year “The existing process has become a laborious and time consuming process as investors are unable to obtain the necessary approvals and licences. Developers must obtain approval from 10 relevant line agencies to obtain a Generation Licence. At the time of issuing the energy licence, the project developer has to renew the approvals obtained from the Central Environmental Authority, the Forest Department and the Wildlife Department due to expiration. Therefore, it is observed that a developer has to spend 2 to 5 years to obtain a generation licence,” 

It is against this backdrop that the government is preparing to “restructure” the CEB, apparently on the advice of the IMF. Restructuring the CEB against the backdrop of the current structure not allowing it to make headway is logical. At the same time, it is illogical for the authorities to sell the institution or a major part of it to individuals, especially foreigners to make hay out of freely available natural resources like wind. It is a catch 22 situation indeed.