Electricity tariff: PUCSL disregards latest revision proposal

• Cites impracticality of another retrospective revision  
• NSO proposal submitted on 6 April
• Current tariff mechanism on quarterly basis 
• Introducing another would distort calculation period 

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is to discard the latest electricity tariff revision proposal submitted by the National System Operator (NSO) on 6 April, it is learnt.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, PUCSL sources said the Commission has decided to disregard the latest submission as it was received after a tariff revision had already been approved with effect from 1 April 2026, making it impractical to implement another revision retrospectively. “The revision that has been submitted is being ignored. We have already granted a tariff revision with effect from 1 April.”

According to the sources, the NSO had forwarded a tariff revision proposal dated 30 March 2026, but the document was submitted only on 6 April 2026, after the previously approved revision had already come into effect. “They have again sent a tariff revision proposal, indicating the date as 30 March, but it was submitted on 6 April,” the sources said.

PUCSL sources explained that tariff revision proposals are typically submitted to enable the recovery of targeted revenue within a defined time frame, and that the current tariff mechanism operates on a quarterly basis. “Under this system, the cost of electricity generation, transmission and distribution over a three-month period is calculated in line with the projected number of electricity units to be sold during a three-month period, forming the basis for determining tariffs.”

However, they pointed out that introducing a new tariff revision proposal in mid-April and attempting to apply it retrospectively from 1 April would distort the calculation period. “If a proposal is sent in mid-April and then implemented from 1 April, it can’t be properly applied. What happens then is that calculations meant to be done over three months would have to be compressed into two months. Doing so will result in higher tariff adjustments than originally required.”

The development follows a request made by the NSO seeking a further 15 per cent increase in electricity tariffs for the second quarter of this year (April to June 2026), in addition to the approximately 10 per cent tariff increase that has already been implemented for the same period.

The NSO, one of the State-owned entities established after the dissolution of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), submitted its revised generation cost forecasts for the second quarter of 2026 to the PUCSL on 6 April.

Earlier, electricity tariffs for domestic and commercial consumers were increased with effect from 1 April after the PUCSL approved a revision following a request made by the CEB. Although the CEB had sought a 13.56 per cent tariff revision, the PUCSL approved an overall increase of around 10 per cent.

Source - The Morning