Slow Digital Shift in Sri Lanka's Power Sector: IPS Report Flags Gaps 💡

• The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) State of the Economy 2025 report indicates that digital transformation in the power sector remains slow and uneven. • Progress is constrained by weak coordination, funding limitations, and the absence of a comprehensive national roadmap, compounded by the recent macroeconomic crisis. • LECO shows early adoption, implementing 5,600 pilot projects and connecting 25% of its approximately 38,000 customers with smart meters for remote reading and billing. • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a $200 Million loan to strengthen the national grid, supporting the introduction of smart-grid technology and battery storage facilities. • Both CEB (serving 7.2 Million customers) and LECO have launched locally developed consumer apps (CEB Care, MyLECO) for essential services and outage reporting. • Sustained progress is contingent on establishing a national framework, enforcing mandatory building-management systems, and implementing proposed data-governance policies, which are currently structural gaps.