The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

¶ 01 QUESTION BY PRIVATE NOTICE

¶ 02 REFORMS OF CEYLON ELECTRICITY BOARD

¶ 03 Hon. Speaker, thank you. With your permission, under Standing Order 27(2), I raise the following:

¶ 04 (a) In the background of the Government stating that a major strategic change will be made regarding the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and that electricity tariffs will be set under a Time-of-Use regime: i. What specific institutional and operational reforms are being implemented within the CEB? ii. What is the timeline to fully implement Time-of-Use tariffs? iii. How will these changes impact domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in percentage terms?

¶ 05 (b) Since there are reports about CEB reforms or liquidation: i. Are such measures being taken in line with prior Government policy and with the agreement of stakeholders? ii. If not, why? iii. Have the CEB employees and recognized trade unions agreed to these changes?

¶ 06 (c) With regard to the costs incurred due to Cyclone “Ditwah,” estimated at around Rs. 20 billion: i. Has this money been provided by the Government? ii. If so, on which dates and in what amounts were payments made? iii. If not, what instructions were given to recover this expenditure?

¶ 07 This was in the Daily Mirror of 21 January, authored by Kalum Bandara.

¶ 08 (d) Is it true that electricity tariffs were increased to recover the cost of a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) of around Rs. 12 billion for approximately 2,300 CEB employees and for recovery of street lighting costs? If so: i. Was that cost directly passed on to electricity consumers? ii. Was Cabinet approval and Public Utilities Commission approval obtained?

¶ 09 (e) Is the cross-subsidy mechanism in electricity tariffs being reduced or removed? i. If so, for what reasons? ii. What is the impact on low-income consumers?

¶ 10 (f) What are the sources of capital for expansion and modernization of the transmission and distribution systems, and what are the timelines for these investments?

¶ 11 (g) Is the Government aware of allegations that prioritization of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and curtailment of modern renewable energy projects are pushing thermal generation to the forefront? i. What are the reasons for such a policy direction? ii. Given the current foreign exchange constraints for fuel imports, how is this justified?

¶ 12 (h) Finally, what steps are being taken to ensure an open economy, fair and renewable-friendly energy policy for national energy security? Currently tenders are being called for BESS, but opportunities have been opened to foreign parties, causing outflow of foreign exchange.

¶ 13 Additionally, Hon. Speaker, I was informed on Tuesday that, under SO 27(2), my Question was received by the Parliament Secretariat at 3.35 p.m., but the Opposition has submitted it at 11.55 a.m., and it has reached the Ministry of Power at 11.57 a.m. How then did such a statement arise? Please look into this. I thank the Secretary for enabling me to raise this. I do not know whether an answer will be given today. If later is necessary, that is fine.