Sri Lanka will finally end daily scheduled power cuts from Thursday February 16 a year after the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) began load-shedding as the island nation went deep into its worst currency crisis in decades.
Power & Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara told reporters Thursday morning that all areas of the island will receive uninterrupted power starting Thursday, made possible by an electricity tariff hike that was approved by the regulator the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) the previous day amid stiff resistance.
The CEB began daily planned power outages in February 2022 when Sri Lanka ran out of dollars to purchase fuel to generate thermal power. Small-scale protests organised against then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa intensified after power cuts extended to 13 hours a day in March that year, triggering a wave of anti-government protests around the country, culminating in Rajapakasa’s resignation in July.
