Originally posted in The Business Standard on 21 November 2022
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that the increase in bulk electricity prices will not have any effect on the consumer level right now.
“We don’t think there is any concern about it (bulk price increase) as this will not have any impact at the customer level at the moment,” said the state minister while talking to reporters in his office at the secretariat on Monday (November 21).
Bulk electricity price was increased by 19.92% earlier in the day by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).
“The customer-level analysis is in progress. The cost of power generation as well as oil and gas prices have gone up. Therefore, BERC has made a review announcement to adjust the price,” said Nasrul Hamid.
He further said it cannot be assessed how much it will affect the customer level at the moment.
“It is a time-consuming matter. Because we want to provide uninterrupted power. We would like to adjust the price. It may not happen right now. But in future, BERC will consider increasing it (at customer level),” said the state minister.
It depends on BERC whether there is a need to raise prices at the consumer level or not, he added.
He reiterated that for now, prices are not increasing at the consumer level.
Regarding the electricity supply situation, the state minister said, “We have adjusted the supply now. We are optimistic about heading towards a better situation. The deficit is slowly being adjusted.”
BERC hiked bulk electricity price by 19.92% to Tk6.20 kWh from the previous price of Tk5.17 kWh.
The new tariff will be implemented from December.