Blue Marine Energy Limited, a private electricity supplier on the country’s only coral island, Saint Martin’s, has raised its power tariff by another Tk10 per unit from November 1, triggering anger among residents and businesses.
The new rates are Tk65 per unit for residential consumers and Tk76 for commercial users.
Residents alleged that the company was charging unusually high rates despite supplying electricity for only two to three hours a day. They said around 10,000 people living on the island could not afford electricity at such high prices and demanded that the government take over supply through the Bangladesh Power Development Board.
On October 23, residents had complained that the company was charging Tk55 per unit for residential consumers and Tk66 for commercial users. The company, however, claimed that its rates were Tk45 and Tk55 respectively.
At the time, the company proposed raising the rates by Tk10 to Tk55 for residential consumers and Tk65 for commercial users. It had also said the existing rates would remain unchanged if consumers rejected the proposal.
However, from November 1, the company set the rates at Tk65 and Tk76 respectively.
Meanwhile, Saint Martin’s Union Parishad acting chairman Foyezul Islam announced a boycott of the company’s electricity supply in protest against the new rates. He also said preparations were underway to file a case against Blue Marine Energy.
He said a meeting with residents and relevant stakeholders is expected to be held to decide the next course of action.
Abdur Rahim Jihadi, president of the Saint Martin’s Hotel-Motel-Resort Owners Association, said the tariff increase had made life difficult for consumers. Residents also staged a demonstration a few days earlier to protest the decision.
“Nearly 10,000 people on the island cannot afford electricity at Tk76 per unit. We want electricity supplied under government management,” he said.
Blue Marine Energy engineer Mohammad Shihab said electricity demand had exceeded the solar power project’s capacity because the number of battery-powered three-wheelers on the island had increased.
He said the company planned to use generators to supply electricity during the tourism season. He added that the latest Tk10 per unit increase was due to rising fuel prices.
The company’s system engineer, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, also confirmed that the tariff increase had been finalized.
Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer SM Anik Chowdhury said the company had not informed the administration about the tariff increase. The administration was looking into the matter, he added.
Earlier, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Jalal Ahmed described the electricity tariff on Saint Martin’s as unusually high and assured that the matter would be investigated.
He said the company concerned needed a licence to generate and sell electricity and that the issue would be examined.
According to local sources, Saint Martin’s has not had an effective government-managed electricity supply for 32 years.
In the 1980s, the Bangladesh Power Development Board established a power station on the island with two generators. The station was severely damaged by a cyclone in May 1994 and was never brought back into operation.
Later, on February 1, 2019, Blue Marine Energy Limited set up a 250-kilowatt solar power project at Konarpara on the island for around Tk20 crore.
The project has 915 solar panels and currently supplies electricity to around 1,000 consumers, including 140 hotels, 20 restaurants, 600 households, 157 shops, six irrigation pumps, and 15 electric vehicle charging points.
By Tarekur Rahman
Photo: Collected
