Champika:will recover cost from heavy users

The high cost of thermal power generation would be recovered from high energy consumers, said Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka in Parliament yesterday.

The minister said electricity rates should be stabilised despite fuel price hikes in the world market only through such an exercise rather than by resorting to popular short term methods.

He said that an electricity billing formula that promoted renewable energy sources would be introduced later.

“The high cost of thermal power generation will be recovered from high energy consumers. This will help conserve electricity and promote renewable energy sources,” he said.

Mr. Ranawaka said that Sri Lanka could be upgraded from a middle income country to a high income country and that the budgetary proposals had been formulated to that end, though it would be a challenging task.

He described the 2005-2010 period as a period when the national economy was empowered. During this period, he said, the country had faced challenges such as the global economic recession, high fuel prices and a shrinking of the export market.

Courtesy: Daily Mirror