The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is undergoing one of the most ambitious institutional restructurings in Sri Lanka’s power sector history. Under the amendments introduced by the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 36 of 2024, the Board is to be unbundled into six separate entities, with four already established and their chairpersons and boards appointed through internal sources. At the same time, the utility has offered a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to staff unwilling to be absorbed into the successor companies.
So far, approximately 2,174 applications have been made for voluntary retirement at headquarters alone including 78 engineers, 18 accountants, and dozens of technical officers, clerks, and drivers. The Generation Division alone reportedly sees some 400 employees among the applicants.
With the approved engineer cadre standing at 1,004 but only around 680 presently in service and roughly 70 working abroad, the retirement of 78 more would reduce the active engineering pool to about 532 an almost 50 percent reduction. The total approved staff number is 26,783, with roughly 21,800 currently employed. A further 2,200 departing would bring the workforce down to about 19,600 roughly a 10 percent cut.
The VRS is governed by regulations gazetted on 26 August 2025. Permanent employees with over ten years of service are eligible for compensation calculated at two months’ salary for each year completed, plus 1.5 months for each year of service foregone subject to a minimum of Rs 900,000 and a maximum of Rs 5 million. Those with under ten years of service receive five months’ salary per year served. Contractual employees and those under disciplinary inquiry are excluded. Importantly, employees who opt for VRS cannot join any of the successor companies.
From a financial standpoint, the CEB reported robust profit figures for the first ten months of 2024: revenue from electricity sales fell 5.1 percent to Rs 472.8 billion, but a steep 31.4 percent fall in direct generation cost to Rs 260.7 billion lifted gross profit to Rs 112 billion (vs. Rs 41.1 billion in 2023).
Net profit before tax was Rs 139.4 billion compared to a loss of Rs 0.36 billion previously. Outstanding payables to major suppliers and IPPs fell to around Rs 20.5 billion by end-October 2024.
However, for the first half of 2025 the Board posted a loss of Rs 9.525 billion on revenue of Rs 201.509 billion (38 percent lower year-on-year) with finance costs still at Rs 7.78 billion. For the last three months of 2025 the company estimates a deficit of Rs 7.694 billion with revenue of Rs 112.372 billion and cost of Rs 125.3 billion.
The workforce reduction and structural transformation aim to make the power utility leaner and more competitive, shifting legacy generation, transmission, and distribution functions into dedicated units with clearer mandates.
The government’s target is to ultimately reduce the cadre from 26,000 down to as few as 5,000 core staff, while successor companies recruit only for essential functions. Critics warn, however, that the loss of experience especially in maintenance, generation control, and system operations poses major risks. Union leaders say some plants may be left with just one engineer on duty.
For employees, the picture is mixed: those opting for VRS receive generous packages but give up rights to join successor firms and must forego potential future progression. Those transferring face uncertainty over roles, places of work, and promotion pathways a challenge confirmed when the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union lost a court petition challenging assignation letters that lacked detail on new roles.
Looking ahead, the restructuring may help the CEB shed legacy cost burdens and become more flexible in procurement, generation planning, and distribution. The 2025–2044 Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan already outlines a pivot to renewables (targeting 70 percent by 2030) and LNG/hydrogen thermal backup.
Nevertheless, successful transition depends on maintaining operational stability during the cutover phase, retaining key technical talent, and ensuring that successor companies are properly capitalised, governed, and accountable. The next 12–24 months will be critical as much for the national grid’s reliability as for the livelihoods of thousands of CEB employees.
Leave your comments
Login to post a comment
Post comment as a guest