The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has suggested bulk tariffs of electricity by Tk2.99 per Unit which is 57.83 per cent more than the existing rate.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) proposed to increase the price by Tk3.39 per unit in January.
The BERC recommendation came on Wednesday during a day-long public hearing on the BPDB proposal to increase bulk electricity prices by 66%. However, the power regulator’s technical team recommended today to hike the price by 57.83%.
The price rate was last updated in February 2020 and at present, BPDB sells per unit of electricity at Tk5.17 to the electricity distribution companies.
BPDB, the sole wholesaler of electricity, is buying from its own generation as well as from imported and privately-owned power plants.
They are also selling at wholesale prices to five distribution companies and distributing in the urban areas of Mymensingh, Sylhet and Chattogram divisions.
According to BPDB's proposal, the cost of generating electricity from oil has gone up due to the non-availability of gas supply as per the demand.
The average production cost of electricity was Tk2.13 in FY 2019-20 which increased to Tk3.16 in FY 2020-21.
The cost of power generation per unit will stand at Tk4.24 in 2022 due to an increase in fuel oil price and coal VAT.
If the wholesale price does not increase, BPDB will lose over Tk30,000 crore in 2022.
The hearing was attended by the BPDB Director General and officials at various levels, alongside the chairman and members of BERC.
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