Electricity tariff was raised further in Bangladesh at both retail level with effect from Wednesday (March 1). The Power Division — through administrative order in a gazette notification — raised the tariff. “Power tariff was raised by 5 percent”, power secretary Habibur Rahman told UNB. This has been the third time in a row in two months, the power tariff was raised, average 5 percent in retail level on every occasion. According to the new order, the retail tariff was raised at different levels of consumers. The tariff was raised for lower-level consumers by an average 5 percent to Tk 4.35 from Tk 4.14 (each kilowatt hour) per unit. Bulk tariff was not raised this time. Also Read: Power tariff further raised at both bulk and retail levels, effective from tomorrow Earlier on January 13, the government raised the electricity tariff by 5 percent at the retail level with effect from January 1 and on January 12 raised again by 5 percent with effect from February 1. On November 21, the bulk power tariff was hiked by 20 percent to Tk 6.20 per kilowatt hour by Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) with effect from December 1. The government recently amended the BERC Act empowering the Power Division to raise power, gas and petroleum fuel by administrative power anytime it wants. Also Read: Retail power tariff hiked 5% to Tk0.19 per unit for lifeline consumers, Tk0.36 on average for others Applying that amended Act, the new gazette notification was issued to raise the electricity tariff at bulk and retail levels, bypassing the authorities of the energy regulator. Meanwhile, energy experts believe the tariff enhancement decision came in compliance with the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that recently approved $4.5 billion in loan to Bangladesh.  

Strongly protesting the fresh hike in power tariffs, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday said people are repeatedly paying the prices of the government's limitless irregularities and plundering in the power sector. In a statement, he urged the government to revoke its unjustified decision of hiking the power prices, saying people will no longer be able to bear the burden of the increased power tariffs. “People are already going through ordeals due to the government’s failure, corruption, looting, mismanagement, and wrong policies. Amid such a situation, frequently increasing the prices of power is an anti-people, strange and unjustified decision of the government,” Fakhrul said.  Just 19 days ago, he said the price of power at the retail level was increased by the government. Also Read: Power tariff further raised at both bulk and retail levels, effective from tomorrow “The hike in the prices of power further at the retail and wholesale levels just after 19 days is a manifestation of the anti-people character of the government,” he said. The BNP leader feared that the prices of all essential items will go up further with the fresh hike in power tariffs. “People can no longer bear this burden.” He said the current government has been frequently increasing the prices of electricity, gas, fuel, edible oil, fertilizers, and other daily necessities as it was not elected by the people. “The government has no regrets about this. Rather it’s telling lies shamelessly in favour of these imprudent moves.” Fakhrul said the Awami League government has increased electricity prices 11 times in the last 14 years. He also termed the government’s move as a subtle trick to take the authority of hiking the tariffs of power and fuel from the hands of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission. The BNP leader alleged that the government has been taking away money from people’s pockets by raising power tariffs only because of plundering and corruption of the government and its followers. “People have now woken up against the government.” Fakhrul said their party will hold rallies in all divisional cities on February 4 (Saturday) to mount pressure on the government to accept their 10-point demand and lower the prices of power, gas, and daily essentials.  He called upon people from all walks of life to register their protest against the government’s anti-people decisions by making their programme a success with their spontaneous participation. The government on Tuesday increased the retail power price by 5% and the bulk price by over 8% just 19 days after it had hiked the retail price on January 12 this year.  END/UNB/  

Electricity tariff was raised in Bangladesh at both retail and bulk levels, with effect from tomorrow (February 1). The Power Division — through administrative order and in two separate gazette notifications — raised the tariff. According to the new order, the retail tariff was raised at different levels of consumers. The tariff was raised for lower-level consumers by an average 5 percent to Tk 4.14 per unit (each kilowatt hour) from Tk 3.94 per unit. Bulk tariff was raised by 8.06 percent to Tk 6.70 from Tk 6.20 per unit. Enhancement in bulk tariff means, the distribution companies will purchase electricity by an increased rate of Tk 0.50 per unit from Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) while enhancement in retail tariff means, consumers will have to pay enhanced rate for using electricity. Read more: BPDB submits retail power tariff adjustment proposal seeking a 19.44 percent hike Earlier on January 13, the government raised the electricity tariff by 5 percent at the retail level with effect from January 1. At that time, the average tariff for all consumers went up by Tk 0.36 to Tk 7.49 from Tk 7.13. On November 21, the bulk power tariff was hiked by 20 percent to Tk 6.20 per kilowatt hour by Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) with effect from December 1. The government recently amended the BERC Act empowering the Power Division to raise power, gas and petroleum fuel by administrative power any time it wants. Read more: CPD raises question about power tariff enhancement proposal Applying that amended Act, the new gazette notification was issued on January 30 to raise the electricity tariff at bulk and retail levels, bypassing the authorities of the energy regulator. Meanwhile, energy experts believe the tariff enhancement decision came in compliance with the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that recently approved $4.5 billion in loan to Bangladesh.

The financial loss of the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is likely to cross Tk 54,000 crore in the current fiscal after the hike in the price of gas increased their input cost. In 2021-22 its losses were Tk 29,915 crore. “We have to count Tk 10,000 crore extra cost to pay the gas bills following the new gas price enhancement,” a top official of the BPDB told UNB. He said the new cost of gas purchase was already communicated to the Power Division which had already raised the issue at a high-level meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking further instruction. The government on January 18 raised the retail gas prices for public, private and captive power plants and also for industries and commercial users with effect from February 1. Also Read: Saudi firm, BPDB sign deal to set up 1000MW solar power plant in Bangladesh As per the new government announcement, the gas prices have been increased by almost three times for public and private power plants while almost double for captive power plants and industries, and significantly hiked for commercial users. However, prices for household consumers, CNG-run for motor vehicles and tea estates were kept unchanged.  The Energy and Mineral Resources Division set the prices through a gazette notification issued on Wednesday applying the new amendment to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Act, which empowered the government to set all kinds of energy prices bypassing the regulator’s jurisdictions at any time. As per the gazette notification, the public and private power plants including the IPP and rental power plants will pay gas price at Tk 14 per unit (each cubic metre) instead of previous price of Tk 5.02. The rise is 179 percent. Read More: The Tk 700 crore per month hole in the deal with Adani Power The captive power plants, small power plants and commercial power plants will pay Tk 30 per unit instead of the previous price of Tk 16 which is an 88 percent rise. It means after the current enhancement in gas price, the loss in the space of one fiscal will go up by over Tk 24,000 crore, said the sources at the BPDB - an almost 80 percent jump. According to BPDB’s own latest estimates, the financial loss was supposed to cross Tk 48,000 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal from Tk 29,915 crore in the fiscal year 2021-22. But after the hike in bulk power tariff, the loss was calculated to come down by about Tk 4000 to Tk 44,000 crore. “But now the loss will go up by Tk 10,000 crore due to the gas price hike effective from February 1,” said the official referring to their latest calculation.     Read More: Saudi firm, BPDB sign deal to set up 1000MW solar power plant in Bangladesh The directorate of finance of BPDB prepared this calculation on the basis of an audited report, official sources said. On November 21, the bulk power tariff was raised by about 19.92 percent – to Tk 6.20 per kilowatt hour (each unit) from the previous Tk 5.17 – with effect from December 2022. As per the calculation, the loss has shot up excessively mainly for the two reasons — primary fuel price escalation and devaluation of the local currency. "Among the two, the devaluation of local currency emerged as the major reason," a top official of the BPDB told UNB. Read More: BPDB’s financial loss set to increase by over two-thirds to Tk 48,000cr He informed that the BPDB was going to incur a loss of about Tk 10,000 crore solely due to the high rate of dollar. Earlier, the US dollar exchange rate was calculated at Tk 85 which is now at Tk 107 which means the cost increased by Tk 22 per dollar. The BPDB has to pay about $9 billion annually to buy electricity from private sector plants, to pay capacity charges and also to import other materials from abroad for its own purposes.   The BPDB has a power purchase agreement with a huge number of private power generation companies to buy their electricity. Available statistics reveal, currently, the country’s installed power generation capacity is over 25,500 MW and more than 50 percent of electricity is generated by the private sector through independent power producers, rental and quick rental power plants. Read More: BPDB submits retail power tariff adjustment proposal seeking a 19.44 percent hike Import of electricity from India is also counted as private sector generation. The private sector operators mainly use furnace oil, natural gas and diesel. Of these, 4,700 MW is generated by using furnace oil.

The electricity tariff in Bangladesh hiked by 5 percent at the retail level is still less than that of many developed countries, said Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Friday. A slight increase in electricity tariff is proposed to adjust the subsidy borne by the government, he told the reporters at Rajshahi Circuit House.   “Our government is counting thousands of crores in subsidies for the power sector so that the people do not suffer and can get electricity at a cheap price.” Rising fuel prices in Europe and the UK are driving electricity rationing, driving up prices. But in Bangladesh, the price has not been increased in that way as the power sector is still dependent on fossil fuels, he said. Also Read: BNP paying for "imprudent" decisions: Hasan Mahmud The government has raised the electricity tariff by 5 percent at the retail level that  will be effective from January 1. Now the average tariff for all consumers will go up by Tk0.36 to Tk7.49 from Tk7.13, the Power Division said in a media statement Thursday. Regarding the prime minister’s rally in Rajshahi on January 29, Hasan said the rally will be in a field, but the whole city will turn into a rally that day. There will be millions of people joining the rally. “We believe in the power of the people. And they (BNP) believe in conspiracy and the power of arms. So, all evil forces should be eliminated by the power of the people and that should be shown in the rally of Rajshahi on January 29.” Marking the PM’s rally here, Hasan Mahmud arrived in Rajshahi this morning for an exchange of views with local leaders and a field visit.    

The government has raised the electricity tariff by 5 percent at the retail level. Now the average tariff for all consumers will go up by Tk0.36 to Tk7.49 from Tk7.13, the Power Division said in a media statement Thursday. The tariff for lifeline consumers, who use up to 50 units (kwh) a month, was raised by Tk0.19 to Tk3.94 per unit from Tk3.75. The new tariff will be effective from January 1. The monthly demand charge was also raised for different types of consumers. The tariff was raised through an administrative order, issued by a gazette notification in the evening. The decision to raise the power tariff at the retail level was taken under the new amendment to the BERC Act, which allowed the government to take any decision in this regard bypassing the regulator's jurisdiction. However, the Power Division's 19-page gazette notification did not say anything about the average hike in tariff or its increase in percentage. Read more: Govt to raise retail power tariff this month State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid clarified it saying the electricity tariff was raised by Tk0.19 per unit at the retail level, 5 percent up from the existing one. Nasrul also said the tariff will be adjusted every month from now on. "We had to raise the tariff to cover about 20 percent hike in bulk level while the government subsidy was also taken into consideration," he told UNB. "In this fiscal year, the government will have to provide Tk28,000 crore as a subsidy, which was Tk17,000 crore in the last fiscal year." Justifying the 5 percent hike in retail tariff, the state minister said that the government had to go for upward tariff adjustment because of the growing energy prices globally. "The coal price has gone up to $250 per metric tonne, which was only $90 per MT last year." Earlier, BERC raised the bulk power tariff by about 19.92 percent on November 21 with effect from December 1. After that, six power distribution entities submitted their respective proposals to BERC seeking a similar, 19.44 percent, hike in retail power tariff at the consumer level. But within a week, the cabinet on November 28 approved an amendment to the BERC Ordinance 2022, allowing the government to set fuel tariffs on its own under special circumstances without having to wait for the commission's public hearing and decision. Read more: CPD raises question about power tariff enhancement proposal Earlier, during a public hearing, the technical evaluation committee (TEC) of BERC recommended raising the weighted average tariff of electricity by 15.43 percent at the retail level against the demand of the distribution companies for hiking it by about 20 percent. The committee suggested setting the weighted average retail tariff at Tk8.23 against the existing Tk7.13 per unit (each kilowatt hour) with a hike of Tk1.10 per unit. Consumers Association of Bangladesh Vice-President Professor M Shamsul Alam called the power tariff hike by the government's raising with an administrative order a "bad example," which will "encourage corruption and irregularities in the power sector." This move will be detrimental to ensuring accountability and transparency which is being established by BERC's public hearing, he said.

The government has decided to raise the power tariff at the retail level this month bypassing the recommendation of BERC. Reliable sources said the price is likely to be raised by an average 5 percent. A gazette will be issued about the electricity hike soon, said the sources, speaking on condition they can’t be named. Read more: Public Hearing: Evaluation committee for 15.43 pc power tariff hike at retail level Meanwhile, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Thursday said that the electricity tariff will be raised by Tk 0.19 per unit at retail level. The new tariff will come into effect from January 1, he told reporters. Earlier in December, Nasrul said that if the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) delays to decide on retail power hike proposals, the Power Division will make its own decision. The BERC raised about 19.92% bulk power tariff on November 21 with effect from December 1. Subsequently, six power distribution entities submitted their respective proposals to the BERC seeking a similar 19.44% hike in retail power tariff at consumer level. Read more: CPD raises question about power tariff enhancement proposal But within a week, the Cabinet on November 28 approved an amendment to the BERC Ordinance 2022 to empower the government to set fuel tariff on its own under special circumstances without waiting for the commission's public hearing and decision. Earlier, the technical evaluation committee (TEC) of BERC recommended raising the weighted average tariff of electricity by 15.43 percent at the retail level against the demand of the distribution companies for hiking it by about 20 percent. The committee suggested setting the weighted average retail tariff at Tk8.23 against the existing Tk7.13 per unit (each kilowatt hour) with a hike of Tk 1.10 per unit.

The decision on retail power tariff is likely to be announced by January 30. “We want to announce the commission’s decision by January 30,” said Abdul Jalil, chairman of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), while making his concluding remarks at the end of the public hearing on the proposals of the distribution entities to raise power tariff at the retail level. Other members of the commission were present on the occasion. The four-year tenure of the chairman and some other members of the regulatory body is scheduled to expire on January 30. Read More: Public Hearing: Evaluation committee for 15.43 pc power tariff hike at retail level Earlier, the technical evaluation committee (TEC) of BERC recommended raising the weighted average tariff of electricity by 15.43 percent at the retail level against the demand of the distribution companies for hiking it by about 20 percent. The recommendation of the evaluation committee was placed at the public hearing today that began in the city’s BIAM Auditorium at 10 am. The committee suggested setting the weighted average retail tariff at Tk8.23 against the existing Tk7.13 per unit (each kilowatt hour) with a hike of Tk 1.10 per unit. However, the five-member commission, headed by its chairman Abdul Jalil, will make the final decision within the next 60 days as per the latest amendment to the BERC Act 2010. Read More: Public hearing on retail power tariff hike proposals begins Sunday All the six state-owned power distribution bodies - Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco), Northern Electricity Supply Company PLS (Nesco), and West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL) - submitted their proposals following BERC’s decision on November 23 last year to hike the bulk power tariff by 19.92 percent with effect from December 1. The lone state-owned transmission entity Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) also placed a separate proposal for raising wheeling charges. The state-owned BPDB first placed its proposal on November 23, seeking a 19.44 percent hike in retail tariff. After that, all other distribution entities also placed almost the same proposal. Read More: CPD raises question about power tariff enhancement proposal Participating in the public hearing, all the consumer rights groups, including the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) strongly opposed the proposals of the distribution and transmission entities. CAB Vice-President ASM Shamsul Alam said the initiative to increase the electricity tariff at the retail level is against the public interest. “Instead of containing corruption, irregularities, and system loss in the power sector, the government is trying to find an easy solution through raising tariff,” he said. Read More: BERC now to consult with govt before any move on retail power tariff hike proposals “If the electricity tariff is raised even further, it will further push up inflation in 2023, which will only intensify public sufferings and the common people will feel the pinch as they will have to pay the ultimate price,” he added. As per the latest number, the financial loss of the BPDB, the principal organisation in the power sector and also the single buyer of electricity from private sector power plants, is likely to increase by Tk18,094 crore in one year. According to the BPDB’s own latest estimates, the financial loss will cross Tk48,000 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal from Tk29,915 crore in FY22, an increase of almost 67 percent. Read More: Raising retail power tariff: 3 more distribution companies submit proposals Sources said the BPDB’s revenue deficit has further increased due to its purchase of electricity at a higher price and sale at a lower price, the hike in petroleum fuel prices and also the increased exchange rate of the US dollar. Officials said the recent 19.92 percent hike in the bulk tariff may help the BPDB reduce its loss by only Tk5,000 crore while a huge revenue deficit will remain a big burden. However, the bulk power tariff hike put pressure on power distribution companies to submit their retail tariff hike proposal to BERC to cover their own revenue gaps. Read More: BPDB submits retail power tariff adjustment proposal seeking a 19.44 percent hike

Public hearing on retail power tariff hike proposals will begin at 10 am on Sunday (January 08, 2023) in the city's BIAM Auditorium. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) will hold the hearing on the proposals submitted by 6 state-owned power distribution entities to raise about 20 percent power tariff at the retail level. It was said by the commission in a notice that the hearing will continue until 5 pm and if all stakeholders could not complete their submissions, then the hearing will continue for the second day on Monday (January 9) too. Read: BPDB submits retail power tariff adjustment proposal seeking a 19.44 percent hike All the six state-owned power distribution bodies which submitted their respective proposals on raising retail power tariff in subsequent of the bulk power tariff hike are—Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco), Northern Electricity Supply Company PLS (Nesco), West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL). They have placed almost an identical proposal to raise retail power tariff by about 20 percent. They moved to submit their proposals following the BERC’s decision to hike the bulk power tariff by 19.92 percent with effect from December 1. Read: Power tariff hike to deepen public suffering further: BNP As per the latest statistics, the financial loss of state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the principal organisation in power sector and also the single buyer of electricity from private sector power plants, is likely to increase by Tk 18,094 crore in one year. According to BPDB’s own latest estimates, the financial loss will cross Tk 48,000 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal from Tk 29,915 crore in the fiscal year 2021-22, an increase of almost 67%. Sources said the BPDB’s revenue deficit has further increased due to its purchase of electricity at higher price and sale at lower price, the hike in petroleum fuel prices and also the price escalation of US dollars. Read More: BERC now to consult with govt before any move on retail power tariff hike proposals Officials said the recent 19.92 percent hike in the bulk tariff may help the BPDB to reduce its loss by only Tk 5,000 crore while a huge revenue deficit will remain a big burden. On the other hand, the bulk power tariff hike puts pressure on power distribution companies to submit their retail tariff hike proposal to the BERC to cover their own revenue gaps. The retail power tariff was last raised in March, 2020 by BERC after holding a public hearing. Read More: Bulk power tariff hike won’t affect retail consumers right now: Nasrul Hamid Through an announcement, the BERC had raised the power tariff on a weighted average by 5.3 percent at retail level with effect from March 1, 2020. As per that decision, the retail power tariff was increased from Tk 6.77 to Tk 7.13 per unit (each kilowatt-hour). Officials said the Power Division is under tremendous pressure from the Finance Ministry to raise power tariff in bulk and retail to cover its huge financial losses. Read More: CPD raises question about power tariff enhancement proposal The recent commitment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide a $4.5 billion loan to Bangladesh has increased the pressure as the donor agency has tagged a condition to decrease subsidy in the power sector and raise power tariff to cover the losses, said a Power Division official.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a think-tank, has raised questions about the necessity of power tariff enhancement against the backdrop of the concerned ministry’s reported proposal for an allocation of Tk 56,860 crore as subsidy. “We don’t understand why the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources wants to raise power tariff at the retail level when it seeks such a huge amount as subsidy,” said CPD research director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem while making a presentation on the interim report on the proposed “Integrated Power and Energy Master Plan (IEPMP) on Thursday at CPD office. Referring to the report, he said that of the total proposed amount, Tk 32,500 crore was sought for state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) for power sector, Tk 19,360 crore for Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation(BPC) for petroleum import and Tk 5,000 crore for Petrobangla for LNG import. Read more: BERC now to consult with govt before any move on retail power tariff hike proposals “We don’t agree with a proposal of reducing subsidy by raising power tariff,” he said adding, Rather, the government should go for a phase out plan to retire the costly rental and quick rental power plants to reduce the cost of power generation. The CPD research director said state-owned BPC is now making huge profit instead of incurring loss in its petroleum business after enhancement in fuel prices as the global fuel price is showing a declining trend. He claimed that the BPC is now making a profit of over Tk 30 per litre in selling the diesel. Responding to a question, he said the ministry sought such a huge amount as subsidy might be due to an inflated calculation. CPD executive director Dr Fahmida Khatun also spoke on the occasion. Appreciating the government’s initiative for adopting the Integrated Power and Energy Master Plan (IEPMP) , Dr Golam Moazzem said this has some positive and negative aspects. Read more: Raising retail power tariff: 3 more distribution companies submit proposals "But despite that we appreciate the move as it has much more focus on renewable energy promotion than before,” he said. He, however, said that the government is now shifting from its original target of generating 40 percent of electricity from renewable energy by 2041. “We see a major change in the statements as they now say the target is “up to 40 percent” by inclusion of word “Clean Energy” instead of renewable energy,” he added. He also observed the government was trying to shift from the coal-fired power’s phase out plan by introducing “Carbon Capture Technology”. The developed world is now coming away from this technology because it is not environment-friendly as such technology is used to capture carbon from the coal-fired power plants. He said the cost of solar and other renewable energy (RE) options is coming down globally and generation of 16,000 MW of electricity, which is the targeted 40 percent of total planned power generation, is very much possible. Many local and foreign investors are ready to invest in the RE sector. “The RE technologies are getting cheaper day by day. The government should go for proven technology in this regard instead of unproven ones,” he said. He also observed that the government ultimately wants to promote import of  LNG (liquefied natural gas) through the proposed master plan while the RE did not get proper attention in it. “RE has not been avoided in the proposed master plan, but it was ignored,” he said.