Govt eyes hiking power price
Special Correspondent :
The demand for electricity is increasing in line with population growth and housing in the country.
Electricity prices have been increased more than hundred times though the number of power plants increased in the last 14 years to increase the production to meet the growing demand.
The Awami League government is in power for four consecutive terms since 2009 and took up the challenges of bringing electricity to people’s doorsteps.
However, electricity prices have increased nine times in the last 14 years. The price of electricity has increased by 118 per cent at the wholesale level and 90 per cent at the consumer level since assuming power in 2009.
In February 2020, wholesale electricity prices were increased by 8.39 per cent. At the same time, retail prices were increased by 5.3 per cent.
The new prices came into effect in March of that year. Later, another round of wholesale prices were increased in December 2022.
Now the government is thinking to increase the electricity price one more time.
According to multiple sources, in the meantime, the number of consumers has also increased manifold in the country.
The government’s fund allocation in power sector has also increased several times on the basis of priority.
Despite the visible improvement in all indicators of electricity generation and distribution in the last 14 years many sectors including industries and households have experienced severe power crisis in the recent past.
According to the data of the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, a total of 125 new power plants installed between 2009 and 2024 in the country.
The total number of power plants in the country was 27 in 2009 and which
now stood at 152.
The production capacity of the power plants were 4,942 MW during 2009 and now the power generation capacity of the country including captive and renewable energy stands at 29,727 MW in the country, sources in the Power Division.
The electricity production in the country has increased by 24,785 megawatts in the last 14 years.
However, the department concerned increased the transmission line to 14,960 kilometers from 8,000 km in the last 14 years.
Meanwhile, grid sub-station capacity (MVA) has also been increased from 15,870 to 66,150 MVA.
The government is now importing 2,000MW of electricity from neighbouring countries to meet the demand of the country.
The electricity distribution line has also been increased in the last 14 years. The power distribution line now reached 6.43 lakh km which was 2.60 lakh km.
Per capita power generation capacity (kWh) has also been increased to 620(kWh) in the last 14 years, which was 220(kWh) in 2009.
During this time, the number of customers has increased from 2.34 lakh to 4.73 lakh. In the fiscal year 2008-09, the power distribution system loss was 14.33 per cent, but it has reduced to 7.65 percent, sources said.
As there has been improvement in all the indicators of power generation and distribution, at the same time, The government’s allocation in power sector increased several times in the last 14 years.
The government has increased the allocation about Tk 35.445 crore for the Annual Development Program (ADP) in 2023-24 fiscal years, which was Tk 2,677 crore in 2009.
According to the Power Division’s data, the government has given subsidy of Tk 42,893 crore in 2022-23 financial years.
However, the government is under pressure to meet the conditions of the IMF to reduce subsidies in the energy and power sector.
Senior Secretary of Power Division Habibur Rahman said that there are plans to produce 40,000 megawatts electricity by 2030 and 60,000 megawatts by 2041. “We are working so that the next generation does not face any power shortage,” he said.
Responding to a query regarding price hiking, he replied, there is a plan to increase the electricity price, but he didn’t mention the time.
According to experts, people of the country are sufferers due to high inflation. The price of daily commodities in the market is also high and if the price of electricity is increased again, it will affect all sectors of the economy.
Energy advisor of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Professor M Shamsul Alam said that unreasonable expenses have been added to the electricity sector at different times, which led to increase cost.