The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka’s primary State power utility for more than five decades, will cease operations at midnight today as part of a major restructuring of the country’s electricity sector.
The move follows the enactment of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 36 of 2024, and subsequent amendments approved by Parliament on 6 August 2025, paving the way for the unbundling of the CEB and the establishment of several successor companies.
Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody formalised the restructuring through an Extraordinary Gazette issued on 6 February, setting the legal framework for the transfer of the CEB’s functions and responsibilities to the newly created entities.
Under the restructuring plan, the CEB’s operations will be divided among six successor companies responsible for electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and system operations.
Appointments to several of the new entities have already been announced. K.S.I. Kumara has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Electricity Distribution Power Ltd, while Saliya Panditharatne has been named temporary Chief Executive Officer of Electricity Generation Power Ltd. N.S. Vettasinghe will serve as the temporary Chief Executive Officer of the National Transmission Network Service Provider Pvt Ltd.
The restructuring will also mark the end of service for a number of long-serving employees who opted for voluntary retirement as part of the transition.
However, the Government has stated that employees who wish to continue working in the sector will be absorbed into the successor companies to ensure continuity of operations.
The dissolution of the CEB brings to an end more than 50 years of centralised management of Sri Lanka’s electricity sector and marks the beginning of a new corporate framework aimed at modernising the country’s power industry.
