Sri Lanka to phase out fuel surcharge on power bills from next year: officials

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With the unprecedented spike in electricity tariffs, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman, W. B. Ganegala was quoted by news services as saying that the monthly bill based on the new rates would be issued only after May 20.

He assured that stringent measures have been adopted to prevent any erroneous calculation of the new power charges, which came into effect yesterday.

Electricity consumers can complain to the area engineer or the revenue accountant of the respective provinces in case of any purported discrepancy in their monthly bills, he said.

Ganegala said the CEB had given time until May 20 because meter readers need to familiarize themselves with the new mode of calculation.

"We calculate the monthly electricity bill of a user daily and the bill is computed on a monthly basis varying from 29 days to 31 days as the case may be. Therefore, the accounting will be done under the old rate until April 19 and under the new rates from the April 20 onwards," he was further quoted saying.
http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=77239

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Apr 22, 2013 (LBO) - A hike in power tariffs has had a minimal impact on low users, and a fuel surcharge will be phased out from early next year as two more coal plants come on stream, officials said.

Power minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said 1.1 million households that used up to 30 units of electricity (kiloWatt hours) a day would only have to pay about 75 rupees extra even with the fuel surcharge.

About 1.3 million households that used between 31 to 60 units had to pay an average of 174 rupees a unit. The percentage increase faced by some households however ranged between to 50 to 100 percent in some cases.

"People do not pay by percentage but by rupees," she told a gathering editors of print and electronic media with Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa Monday.

Another 1.3 million households who used between 61 to 90 units had to pay 432 rupees extra a month, she said.

President Rajapaksa said increases to small households had been kept minimal and many were still receiving a subsidy based on a generation cost of over 20 rupees a unit.

There had been an outcry at the change of from a slab system to a block system, where a sudden 1,000 rupee increase is faced by users when they jump from 90 to 91 units.

Wanniarachi said according to information given state-run Ceylon Electricity Board officials, a household that used a single door refrigerator, two pedestal fans and five light bulbs were getting bills of around 90 units.

Power ministry secretary MMA Ferdinando said they hoped to phase out a fuel surcharge on the standard tariff which ranged between 25 to 40 percent from the beginning of next year.

A second 300MW coal plant was to be connected by October 2013 and a third by early 2014.

Minister Wanniarachchi said she had inherited an organization which owned over 300 billion rupees to various parties including state banks, private power producers and state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

She said Sri Lanka had electrified almost 90 percent of the country and there were no power cuts unlike other countries in the region.

Other than the Indian city of Mumbai which is supplied by Tata Power and Reliance, which are owned by citizens, large swathes of South Asia supplied by state enterprises face several hours of blackouts especially in the dry season.

Wanniarchchi said tariffs in the nigh off-peak after 10.30 pm had been slashed industries could use it. Firms like tea factories already operated at that time she said.

Update II
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/Sri_Lanka_to_phase_out_fuel_surcharge_on_power_bills_from_next_year:_officials/498665503

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Sri Lanka to phase out fuel surcharge on power bills from next year: officials

1 New monthly electricity bills after May 20 – CEB Chairman Sat Apr 20, 2013 11:18 pm

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2 Sri Lanka to phase out fuel surcharge on power bills from next year: officials Mon Apr 22, 2013 1:28 pm

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3 Re: Sri Lanka to phase out fuel surcharge on power bills from next year: officials Mon Apr 22, 2013 1:42 pm

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4 Re: Sri Lanka to phase out fuel surcharge on power bills from next year: officials

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