Public hearing on retail power price adjustment Jan 8-9

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is going to hold a public hearing on 8-9 January to adjust the retail electricity price as power distribution companies proposed to increase the tariff after 19.92% bulk price hike last month.

The hearing will take place at the Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management (BIAM) in the capital, says a public-notice signed by BERC secretary Barrister Md Khalilur Rahman Khan.

BERC sources said six power distribution companies submitted the retail price adjustment proposals at the end of last month when the regulatory commission hiked the bulk electricity price.

In the proposals, power distribution companies depicted their revenue deficit due to the bulk price hike and asked the regulatory body to adjust price accordingly so that they can avoid loss.

Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, the largest power distribution company, said that due to the lower growth of sale, off-grid distribution, it is going to incur around Tk1,127 crore deficit in the current fiscal year compared to Tk524 crore in the last fiscal year.

Bangladesh Power Development Board, on the other hand, fears a deficit of Tk2,341 crore for its distribution services in four zones.

Therefore, it proposed to increase the distribution charge from Tk1.20 per unit to Tk1.31 per unit.

Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO), which supplies electricity in the most part of Dhaka North City Corporation and a part of Tongi proposed to adjust Tk956 Crore for the December 2022 to June 2023 period and Tk1,402 crore for the next fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) which supplies electricity in the South City Corporation of Dhaka and adjacent Narayanganj City requested the regulatory commission to adjust the per unit's distribution cost from Tk0.87 to Tk1.80 for the running fiscal year.

Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited and West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited also requested the energy regulator to adjust the bulk price at retail level and increase the distribution charge to help them run the companies smoothly.

On 12 January this year, the Power Development Board (PDB) proposed a 66% hike in bulk electricity prices. A public hearing on their proposal was held on 18 May when BERC's technical committee recommended a 58% price hike.

After nearly 5 months, in an announcement on 13 October, the BERC said, considering the overall situation and as the PDB failed to show any rational reason, the application has been rejected.

However, in a shocking move on 21 November, BERC hiked the bulk electricity price by 19.92%, the tenth hike since 2009 – a 161% increase in 13 years, while retail price has been increased by 90% during the same period.