PUC: “Inform us of unscheduled power cuts” 

Sri Lanka’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Monday urged the public to inform the Commission if there are power interruptions in the country without prior notice.

This newspaper advertisement came on the back of an announcement by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) of power cuts starting on Monday. But confusion prevailed after Power and Energy Ministry Secretary Dr. B.M.S. Batagoda was quoted in a daily newspaper on Monday as stating that “there were no power cuts yet despite rumours to the contrary”.

The PUC said that “regular rotational power interruptions are taking place without prior notice from March 18 in various parts of the country. It is the responsibility of the Commission to prevent such power interruptions in the future and to minimise the inconvenience to electricity consumers from such interruptions”.

Several consumers have reported that their areas had unannounced power cuts and this was followed by complaints to the PUC. Sri Lanka is struggling with a water shortage owing to a prolonged drought which has reduced water levels in catchment areas and forced the authorities to consider power cuts as hydro power generation reduces.

The notice said that the CEB and the Lanka Electricity Company Pvt Ltd (LECO) are responsible for ‘continuous electricity supply to consumers, as the transmission and bulk supply licencee and distribution licencees. The PUC is responsible to ensure that the CEB and LECO operate in compliance with the conditions of the licencees’.  – ENDS -