In the nine months to September electricity generation grew 2.8 percent to 8.8 GWh, sharply down from a 7.5 percent growth in 2011 to 11,522 GWh.
Electricity generation was growing in absolute terms until July 2012.
In August power cuts began following a breakdown in a coal plant. Power cuts themselves can slow an economy. In 2001, negative economic growth was partly associated with power cuts, but many large firms how have back up power.
In 2012 February electricity tariffs were raised which also promotes lower and more efficient use of the resource, but the economy has also been slowing along with exports.
Industrial exports were down 6.4 percent to 5.1 billion US dollars up to September 2012 from a year earlier. Electricity sales to all industries were up 6.3 percent to 2,175GWh in the eight months to August.
Last year Sri Lanka's economy was given an unexpected boost by nearly 200 billion rupees of printed money injected to the banking system by the Central Bank to sterilize foreign exchange sales, driving spending and imports to unsustainable heights.State enterprises took large volumes of credit to subsidize energy and promote unsustainable consumption among users and trigger a balance of payments crisis.
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