Bangladesh
Power Tariff Power tariff to rise
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, Oct 12: The announcement of the increase in wholesale electricity tariff is coming on Thursday (October 13). Several members of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) have confirmed this information.
BERC member Md. Maqbul-e-Ilahi Chowdhury said, "It has been decided to announce the new price next Thursday morning. However, even if the wholesale price increases, the electricity price will not be increased at the retail level."
In mid-January this year, PDB proposed to BERC to increase the wholesale price of electricity by 65.57 percent by waiving the subsidy. In this proposal, BPDB proposes to increase the current rate from Tk 5.17 to Tk 8.58 per unit.
On May 18, the technical evaluation committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, the energy sector price regulator, recommended an average increase of 58 percent in electricity prices at the wholesale level. According to the rules- within 90 working days the verdict of the hearing has to be declared. In that case, the electricity price hike should be announced by October 13.
BERC officials say that wholesale electricity prices may increase by a maximum of 25 percent. However, the price of electricity at the consumer level is not increasing now. Because all electricity distribution companies are currently in profit. So if they increase the price of bulk electricity by 20-25 percent, they will not have much problem.
According to multiple BERC sources, the commission has finalized the proposal to increase electricity prices by 15-25 percent. In the meantime, it has also been submitted to the electricity department. It can be increased or decreased slightly if the government wants. In this case, the rate of increase in electricity price will depend on how much subsidy the government will give.
Currently, the price of electricity per unit is Tk 5.17. In the public hearing held on May 18, PDB had proposed a 66 percent increase of Tk 8.58 per unit. However, the technical committee of BERC recommended fixing the price of electricity per unit at Tk 8.16 without subsidy in the public hearing. As a result, if the government gives subsidies, the price may be slightly increased. If the government does not want to give subsidies, the price may go up a bit more.
