Power cut exposed: Chanaka accuses government of misleading public

S P Wednesday, 08 April 2026 07:38 PM

Power systems have load shedding schemes (partial disconnection of electricity in chosen areas in a priority order) to ensure balance between the system load and the available generation. Load shedding is conducted in two different ways. Automatic load shedding and manual load shedding. Automatic load shedding happens when a generator or a large transmission line suddenly trips due to a fault. It’s perfectly a normal operation. Manual load shedding is operators in the System Control Centre remotely switching off chosen feeders when available generation is not sufficient to meet the demand. What must be happening now is the deficit of 150MW in Norochcholai starving the power system of that much of generation and to balance it to remove the exact amount of load from selected areas. It could be done unannounced if it is only one off emergency situation. But if it is done routinely and unannounced then it’s a breach of contract with the regulator - in this case the PUCSL.

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