Power cuts: CEB’s claim false, PUCSL

By Saman Indrajith

It was now clear that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had been in a position ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), Janaka Rathnayaka said yesterday.

On 07 January, the CEB had asked the PUCSL to authorise power cuts, Rathnayaka said. However, the PUCSL had studied the data and refused to authorise power cuts, he said.

“We looked at the data and found that there was no need for load shedding. For almost five weeks, the CEB had managed without power cuts. Clearly, they can manage this for the next three months until the rainy season begins,” the PUCSL Chairman said.

Rathnayake pointed out that the country’s daily requirement of electricity was about 2,700 megawatts and the private sector had generators that could produce 3,000 MW. The PUCSL had instructed the CEB to coordinate with private sector institutions with generators and to link them to the national grid, Rathnayake said.

“We had asked the CEB to make necessary payments. CEB has a database of institutions that have generators. They can look into whether these generators are used. Already about 10 institutions including some leading hotels have started using their own generators. We have been able to save about a 100 megawatts through this scheme,” the PUCSL chief said.