70 mn. litres of additional fuel required due to subpar coal – Champika

2026-03-19 - 03:23

Former Minister of Power and Energy – Patali Champika Ranawaka, has stated that the use of substandard coal has led to power generation losses, requiring an additional 70 million litres of fuel in the coming days to compensate. He made these remarks yesterday (March 18) during the final public consultation on the proposed electricity tariff revision held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo 07. Ranawaka noted that this volume is equivalent to around 25 days of fuel requirement in the transport sector. Public consultations on the proposal submitted by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to increase electricity tariffs by 13.56% for the April–June 2026 period commenced on March 07, beginning in the Eastern Province. Sessions were subsequently held across all provinces, with the final session concluding yesterday. Following the conclusion of sessions, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is expected to review stakeholder submissions over 02 weeks before reaching a final decision on the proposed tariff revision for the second quarter of 2026.