আবারও বিএসএফের হাতে ৩ বাংলাদেশি গ্রেফতার
ডেস্ক রিপোর্ট: Electricity prices are not being increased, they are being adjusted. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that there is a loss due to selling at a lower price than the cost of production.
He made this comment in a view exchange meeting with the leaders of the newly elected executive committee of Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) at the secretariat on Thursday (February 22).
The state minister also said that if we had made a profit, then the price would have increased. 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 for those who use more electricity, using two to three ACs at home, their bill may increase by 70 paisa. There will be no problem if their monthly bill increases from Tk. 400 to Tk. 500. Government wants to cut subsidies. Now subsidized from revenue it is very expensive.
The state minister said that still the price of electricity from coal is the lowest. The price of nuclear electricity will be like Tk. 5 and a half. Furnace oil is falling like Tk. 14 to 20. Due to which 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.
The state minister said that the biggest problem has been due to the increase in the price of the dollar. 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.
In response to a question, the state minister said, we are going to adjust the prices by executive order. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission took 3 months. It would have caused a loss of Tk. 20 thousand crore in 3 months. Customers will not increase their bills if they go into energy saving.
The state minister said that the price of fuel oil is being left on the international market rate since March. He said, if the price in the international market decreases, it will also decrease here. If it increases again, it will increase here too. In the current situation, diesel is losing Tk 1 per liter. If there is a tariff based duty then there is no need to increase the price. And if the duty is based on commercial voyage then it may increase a bit.
Diesel prices in Bangladesh are still lower than in India. The state minister said that every liter is being sold at Tk. 133 in Kolkata.
The state minister said that the order to adjust the price of electricity may come as soon as possible.
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. BERC initiated the process following the application of the distribution companies. On January 8, the preparations for the announcement of the new rates were almost completed. But BERC was stopped midway and prices were increased by executive order. It is said that the process of increasing the executive order is going on.
On the other hand, in February 2023, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division increased the price of gas in an executive order. And through the public hearing, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission increased the price of gas in June 2022. It is learnt that preparations are underway to increase the price of gas, fertilizer and electricity.
সংবাদটি প্রথম প্রকাশিত হয় বার্তা ২৪-এ।