DHAKA — The Bangladesh Power Development Board has formally petitioned the country’s energy regulator to raise wholesale electricity tariffs by between 17% and 21% to reduce losses from the power-supply shortfall, officials said.
The application was filed with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), which confirmed receipt of the proposal on Wednesday.
“We have received the PDB’s proposal, which seeks to raise the wholesale price of electricity by 17% to 21%,” BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed said. “A technical committee will review the proposal.”
The last tariff increase took effect in February 2024, when retail prices rose by 8.5% and wholesale prices by 5%. That adjustment lifted the average wholesale rate from 6.7034 taka per unit to 7.04 taka, according to PDB data.
If the latest proposal is approved, the wholesale price will increase by between 1.20 taka and 1.48 taka per unit, the application said.
The application follows the formation in April of a six-member cabinet committee tasked with reviewing power tariffs and recommending an adjustment. According to the PDB, raising the wholesale tariff by 50 paisa per unit would cut the government’s subsidy bill by 5,244.58 crore taka (about $48 million).
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report