Anisul Islam Noor :
The state-run power entities have initiated again to raise power price despite a drastic fall of electricity generation and supply costs, sources said.
The average electricity-supply costs, which includes generation and transmission expenses, of the state-run power entities have fallen by around 13.6 per cent i.e. Tk 5.40 per unit over the past one year due to sharp fall in oil prices in the international market, said an industry expert who analyses tariff structure.
He sees chances of the cost going down further to around Tk 5.20 per unit from next fiscal year (FY) 2017 following the cut in furnace oil price in the domestic market.
People are already paying high prices due to rise of the electricity tariff rates, said critics,who see little logic behind the fresh move on the back of cuts in oil prices. The average electricity supply cost of the power distribution companies was Tk 6.25 per unit during FY2015.
Currently around 3,300 megawatts (MW), or 44 per cent of the country’s overall electricity generation of around 7,500 MWs, are generated by the oil-fired power plants, Power Development Board (PDB) sources said.
Electricity generation from furnace oil alone is around 2,500 MWs or 33 per cent of the total output.
The general costs have declined in the past one year, as the country’s private sector has been allowed to import furnace oil independently from cheaper international market to run their power plants since early 2015, a senior official of PDB said.
All the state-run electricity distribution companies, including the PDB, Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), the Rural Electrification Board (REB) and West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd (WZPDC), have submitted tariff-hike proposals to the energy regulator.
“We got tariff hike proposals from the electricity distribution companies,” Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Chairman AR Khan told The New Nation.
He said that the Commission did not yet start to evaluate the tariff hike proposals.
“We shall look into their proposals and decide whether these are acceptable or not,” he added.
The BERC raised power tariffs on average by 2.93 per cent for retail consumers with effect from September 1, 2015.
Currently retail level electricity tariff, for consumption under first slab, up to 75 units, is Tk 3.80 per unit.
Electricity consumers under the sixth or highest slab (above 600 units) are paying Tk 9.98 per unit.
With the latest hike given on September 1, 2015, the country’s energy regulator raised the retail level rates nine times since March 1, 2007.
