The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake
Ravi Karunanayake sought clarification on whether, from June, BESS pricing would be determined by the Public Utilities Commission rather than the CEB. He raised concerns that renewable energy curtailments, particularly regular weekend curtailments since February 2025, were undermining bankability. He also questioned whether IMF cost-reflective pricing conditions tied to an expected US$350 million tranche would lead to further electricity tariff increases, citing rupee depreciation and urging protection of consumers.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister’s comprehensive reply, but there are issues. I hear that from June the Public Utilities Commission will set BESS prices, not the CEB—is that correct? Also, curtailments have occurred, especially after February 2025—regular weekend curtailments make RE non-bankable.
¶ 02 Further, with IMF cost-reflective directives and anticipation of a US$350 million tranche, is there an agreement to further increase electricity tariffs? The rupee’s depreciation from 312 to 355 could imply another 21% rise. People are suffering; do not fear the IMF—protect our 22 million people over a US$350 million tranche.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 21 May 2026 ·No. 23621 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/7325
Cite as: The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 May 2026. No. 23621. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/7325