Power price public hearing starts Nov 28 as all stakeholders submit proposals

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is set to conduct a public hearing on bulk and retail tariff hike proposals of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and power distribution and transmission agencies on November 28-December 03.
The public hearing will be held to fix up the new rates of bulk and retail electricity which will come into effect from January 2020.
"All companies and agencies from the power sector have already submitted their proposals to
    BERC on electricity price hike. The hearing may continue for four days and the new price may come into effect from January 1next year," said a BERC official.
The gas price hike, which has already been made twice this year, has made it necessary to hold the public hearing on electricity price, the official said.
To offset the gap between the sale and production price, BPDB, the sole bulk power distributor, submitted a plea to the BERC to increase 9.3 per cent of bulk tariff hike on Oct 15.
Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) has sought a hike in wheeling charge by 15 per cent, a senior official of the BERC told the daily Observer on Tuesday.
On November 23, 2017 BERC increased power tariff of per unit of electricity by Tk 0.35 or 5.3 per cent on average, which came into effect from December1, 2017.
According to the BERC the other six power distribution agencies including BPDB, Dhaka Electric Supply Company or DESCO, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd or WZPDCL and Northern Electricity Supply Company or NESCO and Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board or BREB have submitted the proposals to the BERC to increase the tariff on an average 10- 15 per cent.
"Following hike in gas prices and to adjust the operation costs, the companies want to increase the tariff from January 1, 2020. We are trying to finish our job by the second week of December," a senior official of BERC said.
The BERC announced gas price hike on June 30 this year.
He said BPDB wants to offset its huge deficit that would stand at Tk 8,608 crore in the next fiscal year.
"Following the last tariff hike, the distribution agencies has been making profit but if the bulk price is increased it will be a pass through item and obviously they (distribution agencies) will want a fresh hike," he added.
The government usually gives loans with 3 per cent interest to the power sector for its development every year. But this year, the loss in power sector will go up as the government is importing huge LNG from abroad, costing around $US 4 billion.
"We are working on the issue, we will do our analysis and later it will be announced following the hearing," the BERC official said.
The regulator issued a notice for public hearings on the proposals later. According to the notice, the first hearings on rates of bulk power tariff and transmission cost will be held on Nov 28.
The hearings on ODB and NESCO's proposals will take place on Dec 1 on DPDC and DESCO on Dec 2 and on WZPDCL and BREB on Dec 3.