by Namini Wijedasa
The fact that Colombo is currently going on a lighting binge should not send out a message to the public that there is electricity to waste, Ceylon Electricity Board officials warned last week, adding that the utility’s bank overdraft is anything but within manageable levels.

The overdraft is now at an estimated Rs. 16.5 billion, a senior CEB manager revealed. Meanwhile, unpaid bills alone amount to more than Rs. 2.5 billion, with the private sector being the biggest offender.

"The present attitude may have a psychological effect on the public," he commented. "They may think the energy crisis is over and that everything is well and good. This is certainly not the case. Although the minister and everyone else are very confident now, a lot still depends on the weather and we are generating a lot of expensive emergency power."

"At the moment we are self-sufficient in production capacity but it is imperative that the public remains energy-conscious," he stressed.

The official pointed out that most existing emergency power contracts are expiring, with the first one lapsing in a month and the last due to conclude by September next year. Although some thermal power plants are to be commissioned in the interim and will add to generation capacity, Sri Lanka will again face a crisis unless planned long-term projects are implemented.

Thermal power is growing more expensive due to rising world oil prices and the cost has to be borne by somebody, he observed.

The tariff increase effected in April may not be enough to cover future costs. An ideal situation would be to lower the cost of generation but that is difficult in the case of thermal power as fuel prices are increasing. According to an engineer, the CEB’s cost of generation is 60 per cent of all its costs.

Another factor to be taken into consideration is that consumption is likely to grow rapidly alongside economic recovery. The country must prepare for this growth as the additional thermal power options to be commissioned may not suffice once emergency power contracts are terminated. The normal growth rate is eight to ten per cent annually, though it had slowed during the past year (two major reasons being the power crisis and sluggish economy).

The situation in the hydro-power reservoirs is "not bad," another CEB official said. Storage is around 40 per cent but it is no longer possible to depend on rains due to erratic weather patterns.

Commenting on the ongoing project to light up Colombo city, the officials agreed that the additional consumption for lighting is not likely to make a significant dent in the picture.

"If you take the actual figure, the energy saved by switching off is not significant enough to make a difference in the overall scenario," the manager explained. "But what is important is the psychological message conveyed."