The Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB) supplies electricity to rural people through 80 cooperatives across the country.

For five decades, it has been delivering relatively low-cost electricity to villages. Loss-making cooperatives under REB are kept afloat through the income of a few profitable ones.However, to reduce its own financial deficit, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) is now exerting pressure on REB.

In a new proposal submitted to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), PDB has said it wants to increase the bulk power tariff rates for REB’s profitable cooperatives.

However, REB officials said that in the last fiscal year only 13 cooperatives actually made profits. Another four did not incur losses. The remaining 63 cooperatives are sustained through subsidies from the profitable ones. If PDB’s proposal is implemented, the existing rural electricity supply structure could collapse. They say it would be a self-destructive decision by the government.

BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed told Prothom Alo that the stakeholders will be included in the review of PDB’s proposal during the public hearings to be held on 20 and 21 May. The commission will then make a final decision considering consumer interests.