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Govt reverts to public hearings for power, gas pricing

Published : Friday, 23 August, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 162
The interim government has amended the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Act 2023 and brings back the public hearing system to fix the prices of electricity and gas, which the Awami League led government scrapped earlier.

The amendment of the law has been published on Thursday. However, in January, 2023, government amending Section 34 (a) of the Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Act 2003, which empowered the government to fix, re-fix or adjust electricity and gas tariffs.

Now the government will go back to the old method of fixing electricity and gas prices through hearings by scrapping Section 34(a) of the Act.

The order said, through this amendment, mass people's participation in fixing tariff would be ensured along with the stakeholder's participation along with the transparency and accountability of the utility agencies financial books.     

Meanwhile, in his maiden meeting with the reporters, On 18 August, Power and Energy Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, told reporters that if necessary prices will again be set through public hearings held by the BERC.

"We will not raise prices unless we are forced to. If necessary, the commission will talk to everyone and take a decision following the policy," he added.

He also directed the Power Development Board (BPDB) to submit a position paper on the financial and economic state of the state-owned entity within the next seven working days.

BPDB claimed that it has been incurring a loss of over Tk 45,000 crore annually and paying a Tk 37,093 crore in capacity charge to the private power producers.

"We have started our job from today (Monday) as per directives," a senior official of BPDB has said.
It has been found that there is a huge row over the BPDB's claim and Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC)'s observation.

BPDB officials said the state-owned Power Development Board (BPDB) will prepare a position paper on the financial and economic condition of the organisation within a week.

Officials said the new directive came from the maiden meeting of the adviser with the top officials of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and their subordinate bodies on Sunday.



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