Sri Lanka power tariffs raised – Update

Apr 17, 2013 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's power regulator has approved a tariff request by state-run Ceylon Electricity Board denying a request to reduce tariffs of large domestic users, after earlier cutting of 40 billion rupees in estimated costs.





High user domestic tariffs at around 44 rupees a unit with the fuel surcharge are more than twice the average cost of 20 rupees a unit.

Other tariff requests to general purpose, government, religious and industry had been approved as submitted.

Large users have been given time of day tariffs with high charges for the evening peak.

The CEB is expecting to get revenues of 223 billion rupees from the price hike, or 45 billion rupees more than the earlier tariff and still make a 33 billion rupees loss in 2013 on total expenses of 256 billion rupees.

The regulator only allowed 228 billion rupees of costs to be recovered from customers, after dis-allowing 40 billion rupees of filed expenses by the CEB.

Last year the CEB lost 61.2 billion rupees and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which supplied fuel below cost 89.

7 billion rupees. CPC is expected to raise furnace oil by around 50 percent from April.

The regulator has imposed a series of conditions on the CEB including installing dis