State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that the price of electricity is increasing from a minimum of 34 paisa to a maximum of 70 paisa per unit. This new price will be effective from the first week of March, he said.
Nasrul Hamid said this while talking to the reporters at the Secretariat on Tuesday (February 27) afternoon.
Electricity prices are not being increased, they are being adjusted. The Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said that there is a loss due to selling at a lower price than the cost of production, so some adjustments are being made.
He made this comment in an exchange of views with the leaders of the newly elected executive committee of Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) at the Secretariat last Thursday (February 22).
The State Minister said, if we had made a profit, then we could have said that the price is increasing. We want to raise the cost. The price may increase by a very small amount. Life Line customers (users up to 75 units) may have monthly bills as high as Tk.20. Now if they are a little more frugal, the bill will remain the same. Our mission is to inspire consumers to be frugal.
He said that there are 1 crore 40 lakh customers who are charged Tk. 4 per unit of electricity. There may be an increase of 30 to 35 paisa. But those who use more electricity, using two to three ACs at home, their bill may increase by 70 paisa per unit. There will be no problem if their monthly bill increases from Tk. 400 to Tk. 500. Government wants to come out of subsidy. Now subsidized from revenue it is very luxurious.
The State Minister said that still the price of electricity from coal is the lowest. The cost of nuclear power will be Tk. 5 and half. Furnace oil is falling like Tk. 14 to 20. That is why we have to depend on coal. Either way the coal supply chain needs to be fixed. They have to pay bills so that there is no crisis in coal import and supply.
He also said that the biggest problem has been due to the increase in the dollar rate. Although the international market price of oil-gas and coal remains the same, it is costing Tk. 40 per dollar more than before. This is where the huge gap is created. We assume that the price of the dollar will remain at Tk. 110 for the next 3 years.
He said that if 2,000 million cubic feet of gas were supplied daily for electricity production, the average cost of electricity production would have been reduced by half. Due to which the supply of gas will be increased by 70 paisa in electricity and fertilizer production.
Last on January 30, 2023, the electricity price was increased by executive order at the consumer level. 3 weeks before that on January 12 the gazette was published with an average increase of 5 percent. Since the formation of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission in 2005, the organization has been determining the price of electricity. On November 21, 2022, the wholesale price of electricity was increased by 19.92 percent to Tk. 6.20 per unit. After that, the distribution companies requested to increase the price of electricity at the customer level.