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Fury as power charges rocket despite big fall in usage
Consumer’s bill doubles despite 2-unit drop
Angry consumers have found that sharp reductions in electricity usage have not helped them with last month’s power bills, with one person’s bill having doubled under the new tariff and another’s usage drop of 40 per cent bringing no benefit at all. Sujeewa Lakmini, 39, a mother of three from the Maligawatte Flats, said the precautions she had taken to reduce power consumption had failed because her electricity charge had increased from Rs. 2000 to Rs.3993 – the doubled bill coming from a two-unit drop in usage, from 140 to 138 units.
R.C. Hettiarachchi
“We tried as much as we could to avoid using electricity. Sometimes we totally avoided watching television and we didn’t use the washing machine” she said. Mrs Lakmini said she would find it very difficult to handle the increased electricity charges, particularly as the family income will be affected by the effect of the increased power tariffs on her husband’s restaurant business.
A family from Kadawatha found that a one-unit rise in consumption, from 75 to 76 units, brought their power bill from Rs.550.46 in April to Rs.952.40 in May. R.C. Hettiarachchi, father of six and a trader from Colombo10, found that although he had cut his power usage from 186 units to 112 – a 40 per cent reduction – his bill showed only a Rs.23 difference, rising from Rs.2877 to Rs.2900. “We did not use our refrigerator since mid-April, and we have consumed fewer electricity units but our charges rose,” he said.
Mr. Hettiarachchi expected the charges to rise further, with the next bill reflecting the entirety of the new tariff compared to the May bill being a combination of the new and old tariffs. But, he said, people will put up with the increased cost. “When the government implements the new tariffs people will protest but later they’ll adapt to the new system and bear the costs. This is the general attitude in our country,” he said.
I.G. Kusumalatha
I.G. Kusumalatha, 60, from Maligawatte said most of her electricity costs came from running a computer and refrigerator, and the family had cut down on usage of these appliances in order to meet their household budget with only her husband’s pension bringing in money.
Even after reducing consumption her charges had gone up. The new bill shows the family consumed 157 units, which cost Rs. 4351. The April bill showed 185 units had been consumed, at a cost of Rs.3851. A number of households which have not yet received their new bills are terrified about what to expect.
D.I. Perera, a three-wheeler driver from Pannipitiya, said he had stopped using all electrical appliances. “We do not use the refrigerator or the television, just the fan, in order to save costs. Most of our electrical appliances are just left idle. We have switched all bulbs to CFL,” he added.
Most eateries, industries and hotels have received their new electricity bills and they claim that the cost have definitely increased but are at a loss to know how to absorb the costs. The owner of a vegetarian café in Kotahena stressed it was very unlikely that he could increase the prices of food items to meet his electricity bills since sales had already dropped due to past price hikes.
“We use power generators to cut down on electricity usage, but still the prices have increased. We expect more shocks in the electricity bills for the next month,” he said.
Sujeewa Lakmini shows her electricity bill: Efforts to reduce comsumption have proved futile. Pix by Susantha Liyanawatte
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