Electricity Act to be amended ensuring 100 per cent government stake in transmission, distribution

The Energy Ministry will continue with the electricity sector reforms process and necessary restructuring and unbundling of electricity generation, transmission and distribution functions, and the newly established Power Sector Reforms Secretariat (PSRS) is heading to complete the transfer plan and unbundling by June 2025 following the proposed amendment to the Electricity Act, an official said.

Following the appointment of Pubudu Niroshan Hedigallage who is an engineer as the Director General of PSRS, three other members- Prof. Lilantha Samaranayake, Kosala Kamburadeniya (Engineer) and Dr. Indra Mahakalanda- have been appointed to the PSRS.

Hedigallage was a member of the NPP Energy Committee. He led its energy forum in August, presenting the Energy Policy Framework 2024. Prof. Samaranayake is the recently appointed Dean of Faculty of Engineering of the University of Peradeniya. Eng. Kamburadeniya is the President-Elect of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) for 2024-25. All three were representing the IESL-appointed Power Sector Reforms Committee during 2022-24. Dr. Mahakalanda is a senior lecturer in the Department of Decision Science at the University of Moratuwa.

“It is a widely discussed matter in political campaign that NPP will amend the current Electricity Act enabling a people-centric energy transition as per the mandate received twice from the people of Sri Lanka in nearby two major elections. The proposed amendment will ensure a 100 per cent government stake in transmission and distribution sectors while introducing an Independent System Operator (ISO). All existing CEB power plants will be kept under government without any privatisation while enabling private investments for future electricity generation options. Unbundling will first move to a strong single buyer market with the ISO while the wholesale market and retail market are also on the cards within a strategic timeline according to the gaining maturity of the electricity generation and power grid.

The electricity sector will be transformed into a consumer-centric and democratic system by empowering consumers to become educated and active participants as producers while establishing a transparent and competitive window for public-private developers to invest in energy projects,” Hedigallage said.