New power tariff slabs soon: Tawfiq-e-Elahi
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) will introduce a new structure of power tariff slabs to help cut the sharp rise in electricity bills of consumers, said Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury yesterday.
“The present structure of slabs is unfair… at present, there are three power tariff slabs for consumers,” he said.
The energy watchdog is preparing a new structure of nine slabs on the basis of power unit consumption, he also said on the sideline of a signing ceremony in the capital's Bidyut Bhaban.
Digital Power and Associates Ltd, a sister concern of Orion Group, signed an agreement with Power Development Board (PDB) to set up a 102-megawatt power plant at Gognagar in Narayanganj.
The furnace oil-based independent power plant will come into operation within 12 months and supply electricity to the national grid for 15 years.
Under the contract, PDB will buy electricity from the plant at Tk 6.91 per kilowatt hour.
PDB Secretary Azizul Islam and Orion Group Managing Director Salman Obaidul Karim signed the deal on behalf of their respective organisations.
State Minister for Power Muhammad Enamul Huq, Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and PDB Chairman Abdul Wahab Khan were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, residential users said to have been experiencing a four-fold rise on their monthly energy bills since March this year.
Alongside hiking electricity tariffs three times in the last five months, the government on March 1 withdrew the common lowest slab facility enjoyed by the residential users.
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