While businesses and the public are still recovering from the shocks of high electricity tariffs, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera pointed out that stability is finally creeping back into the electricity sector of Sri Lanka. 

Noting that the “difficult decisions” could not be avoided, he acknowledged the sectors under his purview are somewhat settling in and would see further improvement going forward. 

The minister expressed his views on the power sector while addressing a publication launch event hosted by the Asian Development Bank, in Colombo, yesterday. He expressed similar sentiments referring to the petroleum sector on Tuesday, while addressing a press conference at the Presidential Media Centre. 
On the power sector, Wijesekera noted that with the tariff reduction that would come in from July, Sri Lanka would see a drop in generation cost, alongside witnessing a better environment for renewable energy suppliers to make investments and take part in the industry. 

“But we do have to take further policy decisions to restructure the entire power sector in Sri Lanka,” he stressed. One of the key areas to be addressed is the generation needs and methods. For that, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) and the regulator also have to be held accountable, he pointed out. 

“The regulator in the past had to make sure the CEB and LECO followed the correct path, ensure the timely construction of power plants and attracting renewable energy. But unfortunately, due to the regulator not being held accountable, the institutions were not held accountable; we had to face difficulties,” said Wijesekara, highlighting the failure of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka in carrying out its responsibilities. 

However, with efforts underway to iron out the issues in the sector, Wijesekara said the government hopes to have a system in place, where the management structure of the CEB would be reformed.  

With the restructuring of the CEB, Wijesekara said the priority would be to unbundle the services, where generation, transmission and distribution would be separated. From thereon, Sri Lanka will have a policy where there is autonomy given to the institutions taking over, so that the generation plans are implemented according to the government policy. 

“We need to ensure the consumer gets the benefits of a lower cost and generation model,” he said.