New act to safeguard electricity consumers

Wasantha RAMANAYAKE

The Government's commitment to safeguard the electricity consumers' expectation for fair pricing is shown by the enactment of the new Sri Lanka Electricity Act, noted Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Senevirathne at the ceremonial handing over of the provisional licence to Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in Colombo, yesterday.

"The Act provides for the regulation of the electricity sector independently by the PUCSL. Now the consumers could complain if their electricity supply has dropped or any delays with regard to the breakdowns to the PUCSL," the Minister said.

He emphasised that the new Act was not a piece of legislation that would pave the way for the privatisation of the electricity sector.

He said that a number of groups with vested interests including the trade unions opposed to it with the false claim of privatisation.

He said many developing countries including India, Pakistan and Nepal were successfully implementing the electricity regulation. The Minister said the Act had been drafted in line with the international best practice of clearly separating the policy, operation and regulation functions of the electricity sector assigning them to the relevant bodies. "Earlier the CEB was responsible for all the three functions which was grossly unfair by the stakeholders such as consumers and private power producers," he added.

The Minister further added that the electricity sector desperately needed a regulation by an independent body since its customer base was currently over 4.5 million.

Public Utility Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Dr. Jayatissa de Costa handed over provisional licence to the CEB Chairman E.S.K. Edirisuriya.

Plan Implementation Minister P. Dayarathne, under whose purview the PUCSL comes, said although there had been drastic changes in the electricity sector since the first installation of the 25 MW Lakshapana Hydro Power station in 1950s, the legislation has not under gone necessary changes. He pointed out that the consumer base was only around 17,000 which has increased to 4.5 million. "The regulation should have been introduced long before, had it been done CEB would have been better off," he said.

The provisional licence would be valid for six months thereafter a licence would be issued to the service provided for another 15 years. "Today the CEB has been issued a provisional licence to generate, transmit and distribute," he said.

He noted that the licence is bundled with conditions that should be adhered by the service providers.

"The Commission should supervise their functions before the permanent licence is granted for 15 year period with concurrence of the subject minister," he explained.

Dr. Costa said the other utilities such as water and petroleum too would be regulated by the PUCSL. He said the telecommunication sector was well regulated by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) which helped to develop the sector. "We would follow the TRC method," he noted. He pointed out that gas too should have been regulated by an independent body.

PUCSL Director General Prof. Ranjit Perera, Power and Energy Ministry Secretary M.M.C. Ferdinando, Plan Implementation Ministry Secretary Dharani Wijethilake were also present.