Use electricity sparingly, urges Ministry

The Power and Energy Ministry yesterday requested consumers to use electricity sparingly in view of a sharp reduction in the water levels of hydrel reservoirs consequent to the dry weather conditions.

The Ministry in a release said power generation in hydro-electricity plants has dropped due to a sharp reductions in reservoirs such as Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and Kotmale.

The total capacity of these plants which was 1,260 Gwh has dropped to 400 Gwh. As such the Ceylon Electricity Board had to largely depend on thermal plants to provide the daily requirement of 28 million electricity units.

The Ministry requested consumers to help the country tide over the situation by using electricity sparingly.