Govt to raise retail power tariff this month

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.

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, reports UNB.

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.

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.