The government does not expect to seek an increase in electricity tariffs for the next quarter, Minister of Energy Anura Karunathilaka told Parliament on Friday, the Daily Mirror reported.
The cost of generating electricity has fallen recently because of increased hydroelectric generation following sufficient rainfall, the Minister said. Improved reservoir water levels had helped reduce generation costs and manage supply more efficiently, and on that basis the ministry does not expect to request a tariff increase for the coming quarter.
What the statement does and does not commit to
Tariffs are not set by the ministry. They are determined by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka on an application from the Ceylon Electricity Board, under a quarterly review cycle. Karunathilaka’s statement is therefore about what the CEB intends to ask for, not about what will be approved — and it is framed as an expectation rather than a decision. No figure, review date or reservoir level accompanies it.
It runs against the warning made ten days ago
The assurance cuts directly across a warning from the opposition benches. On 1 September, SLPP MP D.V. Chanaka said tariffs could rise again if the rains did not come, arguing that only about 10% of the losses associated with coal generation had been built into the last revision and that the remainder would have to be recovered from taxpayers or consumers.
Karunathilaka’s answer addresses the rainfall half of that argument and not the coal half. He cites hydro as the reason costs have fallen; he is not reported as saying anything about the unrecovered coal losses Chanaka described, or about how they would be treated in a future revision.
The coal position has been tight
The hydro relief arrives while coal supply has been under strain. On 3 September the Minister ruled out power cuts despite a coal stock shortage at Norochcholai, saying two shipments were due — one on 4 September and one on 12 September, tomorrow. The first of those, aboard the IVS Trader, was confirmed to have reached Norochcholai.
Rainfall has been the swing factor in both directions this season. El Niño conditions halted irrigation releases in Polonnaruwa at the end of August and left 612 tanks in Anuradhapura below 5% capacity, while a UN assessment expects above-average rainfall from October. Hydropower reservoirs in the central highlands are managed separately from the dry-zone irrigation tanks.
Not reported
No other newsroom had covered the exchange at the time of writing. The Daily Mirror does not identify who put the question, give current reservoir levels or the hydro share of generation, or say which quarter is meant — whether the October–December window or the one after it. It does not say whether the CEB has already filed or withheld a tariff application, what the last revision changed, or whether the minister addressed the coal losses that remain unrecovered. Nor is any comment from the PUCSL reported.
