Rampant power outages due to high winds, rain-related disasters

• CEB enginers handicapped in quick power restoration   
• Over 59,400 outages affecting 431,000 consumers  
• consumers  urged to report any fallen live  electrical wires or devices to CEB

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has recorded over  59,400 electricity breakdown complaints, resulting in power outages for  over 431,500 consumers during the last four days from May 21 to 24, the  Power and Energy Ministry said.   

The Ministry said more than 16,000 breakdowns had been  cleared, and power supply resorted for about 330,000 consumers  yesterday. CEB management and service staff are working around the clock  to restore power to all affected consumers.  

However, the CEB Engineers’ Union said restoration is challenging due to a lack of staff.   

Issuing a statement, the Union said numerous incidents of  tree falls on transformers and distribution lines have been reported,  leading to significant disruptions.   

“Our limited technical staff at the CEB are making  extraordinary efforts to restore power as quickly as possible. We deeply  regret that due to the high volume of calls, there are times when we  are unable to respond to all customer inquiries. We kindly ask consumers  to support our restoration teams and to report any fallen live  electrical wires or devices to the Electricity Board immediately without  attempting to handle them.   

Ensuring the safety of our staff, the public, and  electrical equipment is our top priority. We respectfully request the  public to refrain from interfering with the duties of our employees  during this critical time. Currently, the CEB has a very small number of  employees available to restore power outages, which inevitably leads to  delays in providing the expected quick service to our loyal customers.  We want to clarify that the additional groups mentioned by the minister  have not yet been received by the CEB. In this already challenging  situation, the Acting General Manager of CEB issued a circular on May  21, 2024, abolishing several essential service positions, including the  Maintenance Electrical Engineer in the Area Engineer Offices,  Construction Units, and Distribution Maintenance Units. This decision,  made without any scientific basis. “The CEB has a very small number of  employees available to restore power outages, which inevitably leads to  delays in providing the expected quick service to our loyal customers.  We want to clarify that the additional groups mentioned by the minister  have not yet been received by the CEB,” it said.