Electricity price hiked 16.68 percent at retail level

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) on Wednesday announced a substantial increase of 16.68 percent and 19.85 percent in electricity tariffs at both the retail and wholesale levels respectively, marking the first nationwide power price adjustment since February 2024.

According to BERC, the average retail electricity tariff will increase from Tk 9.11 to Tk 10.63 for every unit per kilowatt-hour. At the wholesale level, the average tariff will rise from Tk 7.00 to Tk 8.39 for every unit per kilowatt-hour.

The revised rates will take effect from the billing month of June this year.

BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed announced the new tariffs during a media briefing in Dhaka.

He said that despite the latest price adjustment, the government would still need to provide approximately Tk 41,000 crore annually in subsidies to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to support the country's power sector.

The latest revision comes more than two years after the previous nationwide tariff increase in February 2024. At that time, BERC raised retail electricity tariffs by an average of 8.5 percent, increasing the rate from Tk 8.25 to Tk 8.95 per kilowatt-hour. Wholesale electricity prices also increased by 5 percent, from Tk 6.70 to Tk 7.04 per kilowatt-hour.

 The new tariff hike is expected to have a broad impact on consumers and businesses across the country, as electricity costs play a key role in household expenditure and industrial production.