Engineers at the Ceylon Electricity Board have drawn a clear red line over the government’s plan to gazette the appointed date for restructuring the utility, warning that trade union action will follow if the move is pushed through without addressing their core demands, the Sunday Island learns.

The powerful Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) says preparations are already under way for industrial action, most likely after the appointed date gazette is published, should the Minister proceed without resolving outstanding issues raised repeatedly by engineers.

“If the appointed date is gazetted without addressing our demands, we will have no option but to take trade union action,” a senior electrical engineer told The Island, stressing that the warning should be taken seriously.

CEBEU sources say the engineers’ demands are aimed at preventing a structural and financial crisis in the electricity sector, rather than blocking reform. They insist that unbundling the CEB without first putting in place firm safeguards would expose the sector to instability and consumers to higher costs.

The engineers’ key demands include: legally binding financial safeguards to ensure the proposed Electricity Generation Company is viable from inception; protection against the transfer of legacy liabilities, extraordinary costs, or inefficiencies to new entities or electricity consumers; enforceable accountability for management and policy decisions that inflate system costs; genuine, structured consultation with technical professionals before irreversible decisions are taken; and a halt to gazetting the appointed date until these safeguards are formally incorporated.

Engineers warn that rushing the appointed date would lock existing weaknesses into the new structure, making them harder—and more expensive—to fix later. “Once the appointed date is gazetted, there is no rewind button,” a senior engineer said. “If the foundation is flawed, the entire structure will suffer.”

Meanwhile, according to energy analyst, Dr. Vidhura Ralapanwe, electricity sector reforms must be grounded in technical and financial reality, not driven by administrative timelines.

He has cautioned that implementing structural changes without correcting underlying governance and cost issues risks destabilising the sector and undermining public confidence.

CEBEU officials reject claims that the union is resisting reform. They say engineers are being sidelined in decision-making while being held responsible for system performance. “We are accountable for keeping the system running, but our professional warnings are being ignored,” one engineer said. “That is not reform; it is reckless governance.”

With the Minister yet to gazette the appointed date, tensions within the power sector are rising sharply.

Engineers say the government now faces a stark choice: engage with professionals and fix the problems first—or brace for confrontation in a sector where disruption will have coutrywide consequences.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️