Proposal to increase electricity price 69pc

Public hearing on May 16

Staff Correspondent: The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has fixed May 16 for a public hearing in the wake of the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (PDB) proposal to increase electricity prices.
The public hearing will be held at the Biam Foundation auditorium in New Eskaton on the same day, BERC said in a statement.
According to the notification, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BBBU) has submitted an application to the commission with a proposal to change the wholesale (bulk) tariff of electricity as per the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act-2003. The technical evaluation team formed by the commission has recommended to take action after the application. Interested persons or institutions or organizations are requested to send written statement or opinion to the Commission before the hearing by 28th April.
The Power Development Board (PDB) has recently proposed to BERC to increase the wholesale (bulk) price of electricity by 69 per cent. Talking about this, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid also gave an advance message to increase the price of electricity.
PDB, the country’s top power utility, submitted a written proposal to BERC in mid-January to raise electricity prices. At the wholesale level, it is said to increase the price of electricity by an average of 8 to 69 percent. The hike in diesel and kerosene was effective in November last year and the proposal to increase the price of gas in January includes the proposal to increase the price of electricity.
At a press conference at the secretariat on March 24, almost two months after the proposal to increase the price of electricity, Nasrul Hamid said, “Everyone should be ready, either shock will come or it will not come.” I hope everyone has the patience needed to face the challenges that are coming in the days to come. BERC will be able to say whether the price will increase or not. The proposal has been made, that is the decision of BERC. However, we want the price of electricity to be kept at a tolerable level.