Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Energy, has issued a warning to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) regarding renewable energy generation plans.
The Minister stated on Twitter that he will not take the CEB’s request to increase tariff rates to Cabinet because the CEB does not support renewable energy generation plans.
Minister Wijesekera emphasized that the CEB should allow renewable energy projects to move forward and reduce generation costs rather than raising tariffs to cover their own salaries.
The CEB has a collective agreement that increases their own salaries by 25% every three years.
With no plans for renewable energy or cost reductions in generation, he explained, the high cost of salaries and generation costs is passed on to consumers.
Minister Kanchana Wijesekera agreed, saying there is “no better time to do it.”
Meanwhile, the CEB Engineers’ Union has announced that it will begin a trade union strike at midnight today (8).
The Union stated that the trade union action will be launched in response to several key demands, including the power-related projects that will be debated in Parliament tomorrow (09).
