Govt created 'dev story' by planning to meet energy demand thru imports: CAB

The government has created a "story of development" by planning to meet the country's energy demand through imports instead of utilising local energy resources, Professor M Shamsul Alam, energy advisor to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said on Wednesday.

"As a teacher and worker in this [energy] sector, I cannot accept it in any way. I will regret it till the day I die," he said while speaking at a programme on just energy transformation at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

Shamsul Alam said the government has turned the power sector into a commercial sector while in fact it should be treated as a service sector.

"Donors are prescribing policies, and bureaucrats are implementing those policies."

He also said, "We should increase extraction from the gas fields we have instead of depending on coal and liquefied natural gas imports to meet the energy demand. Initiatives should be taken to dig new gas wells."

The CAB adviser said the energy sector should be protected from the hands of unscrupulous businesspeople.

"The Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010 should be repealed immediately."

Citing the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority Act 2012, he said the price of solar power has to be determined by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).

"The BERC has the power to determine price through a public hearing. But now this authority is being given to bureaucrats. Electricity is being distributed without any kind of public hearing. This will increase the ceaseless profits made by unscrupulous businesses."

During the discussion, it was revealed that influential industrial groups have engaged in various unfair activities, including occupying khas land (three-crop agricultural land), being involved in clashes resulting in fatalities, and filing harassment cases against villagers while undertaking large solar power projects under private ownership.

Professor Shamsul Alam believes that such a situation has arisen as a result of the government circumventing competition by taking advantage of the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply Act and granting preferential treatment to individuals close to them in the allocation of such service projects.

CAB President Ghulam Rahman asserted that due to a lack of transparency in decision-making, various malpractices flourish. Consumers would reap significant benefits if the trade landscape were more competitive. Across the globe, competition in production or distribution safeguards consumer interests, and the regulatory authority serves a broader public purpose.

A study report on solar plants in Bangladesh, jointly conducted by energy journalist Arifuzzaman Tuhin and researcher Maha Mirza, was presented at the event.

Energy expert Professor Badrul Imam and economist Professor MM Akash also spoke at the programme.