Power tariff rise proposed for Bangladesh

• 11 years ago (2012-07-17)
• David Flin

North America 998

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The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has proposed a 50 percent increase in the power tariff for bulk users, despite heavy criticism of the move by consumers. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has arranged public hearings on the BPDB proposals.

In the public hearing, BPDB proposed to increase the wholesale power tariff from $0.049 per unit to $0.073 per unit. BPDB said that it costs $0.084 per unit to produce electricity, the high price mainly being a result of the cost of global petroleum products.

Alamgir Kabir, Chairman of BPDB, said the organisation will still incur a deficit of $450,000 if the proposal is approved. He also requested that BERC make the increased tariff effective from July 1. He said that if the tariff increase proposal is not accepted, then BPDB stands to face a deficit $152 million this year.

BPDB said the country needs oil-based power plants on 80 percent plant factor to keep load shedding at a tolerable level.

The Technical Committee of BERC, which was formed to evaluate the BPDB proposal, has recommended increasing the per unit tariff for bulk users by 22 percent.