Govt. abandons privatisation plan for CEB

• Electricity Act to be amended for unbundled generation, transmission, distribution without privatisation
• Reforms to continue

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) announced that it would carry out energy sector reforms without privatising the institution.

Issuing a statement, the CEB said it had to adopt a reform process proposed by external mechanisms last year as a result of non-implementation of internal reforms decades, but an opportunity had arisen to carry out proper reforms in the energy sector in line with the social transformational mandate received by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The Board of Directors invite everyone to join to raise a people-centric, clean and secure electricity sector while achieving the lowest electricity cost in the region in the next five years under a strong single-buyer market with an Independent System Operator (ISO) and unbundled generation, transmission and distribution licensees established by an amendment to the electricity act through extensive public and stakeholder consultation without privatisation of state-owned electricity sector assets, according to the CEB.

The Board of Directors invite everyone to join to raise a people-centric, clean and secure electricity sector while achieving the lowest electricity cost in the region in the next five years under a strong single-buyer market with an Independent System Operator (ISO) and unbundled generation, transmission and distribution licensees established by an amendment to the electricity act through extensive public and stakeholder consultation without privatisation of state-owned electricity sector assets, according to the CEB.

The CEB said with the guidance of the Ministry of Energy, moving towards a people-centric energy transition at the dawn of a new renaissance era, an online awareness programme on the electricity sector reforms was conducted by the Chairman and the Board of Directors on October 23, 2024, for the entire CEB staff.

“Change is a common reality; timely changes are essential for any organisation as well. Proper organisational reforms with periodic evaluations are imperative for any organisation in order to increase the quality of service, maintain high standards in customer satisfaction, make reasonable profits to the organisation, ensure high returns to the social economy, and improve the living standards of the employees. A proposal was also made to form a committee representing employees at all levels to get everyone’s active contribution for future initiatives taken by the Ministry of Energy,” the CEB said.