Power bill to bypass all laws
Dhaka, Sep 26 (bdnews24.com) –The government has tabled a bill to increase power generation prohibiting any questions regarding the manner in which it is done.
The bill aims to increase power and energy supply supposedly on an emergency basis enabling the government to undertake any step regarding any aspect of generation, transmission, distribution, and import apparently without any accountability.
State minister for power and energy Muhammad Enamul Huq placed the bill in the parliament on Sunday.
During the presentation of the bill, the state minister for power portrayed the current energy situation across the country. He said due to energy shortage, mainly of gas, power generation could not be increased.
Later, it was sent to the standing committee on the related ministry for scrutiny asking a feedback in two days.
The bill states that no one will have the authority to question any decision or order under this law at any court.
If passed, the law will also allow planning and execution of any decision over power and energy – gas, oil, furnace oil or kerosene – imports.
Hence, despite provisions of Public Procurement Act-2006 or any such related laws, this act would have primacy over those rules and regulations.
The current government in March this year in a similar manner had taken up decisions over power generation contracts with any local or foreign companies. It has already executed more than 10 contracts to purchase power without any tender and not following the PPA.
The current power shortfall stands at around 1500MW in Bangladesh.
According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board, maximum power production on Sunday stood at 4147MW, when peak demand was around 5500MW.
On the same day, 356MW could not be generated, due to gas shortage, which has also become another reason of tension not only for the power plants but also for households, CNG-run vehicle-owners and industries.
Average daily gas production from the country's 17 fields stands at 1950 million units (mmcf), while demand is around 2500mmcf.
Of the produced gas, 55 percent goes to the power plants, 16 percent to industries, 12 percednt to fertiliser factories, 11 percent to households, 5 percent to CNG stations, and the remaining 1 percent is consumed by the commercial clients, tea-gardens and others.
The bill aims to increase power and energy supply supposedly on an emergency basis enabling the government to undertake any step regarding any aspect of generation, transmission, distribution, and import apparently without any accountability.
State minister for power and energy Muhammad Enamul Huq placed the bill in the parliament on Sunday.
During the presentation of the bill, the state minister for power portrayed the current energy situation across the country. He said due to energy shortage, mainly of gas, power generation could not be increased.
Later, it was sent to the standing committee on the related ministry for scrutiny asking a feedback in two days.
The bill states that no one will have the authority to question any decision or order under this law at any court.
If passed, the law will also allow planning and execution of any decision over power and energy – gas, oil, furnace oil or kerosene – imports.
Hence, despite provisions of Public Procurement Act-2006 or any such related laws, this act would have primacy over those rules and regulations.
The current government in March this year in a similar manner had taken up decisions over power generation contracts with any local or foreign companies. It has already executed more than 10 contracts to purchase power without any tender and not following the PPA.
The current power shortfall stands at around 1500MW in Bangladesh.
According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board, maximum power production on Sunday stood at 4147MW, when peak demand was around 5500MW.
On the same day, 356MW could not be generated, due to gas shortage, which has also become another reason of tension not only for the power plants but also for households, CNG-run vehicle-owners and industries.
Average daily gas production from the country's 17 fields stands at 1950 million units (mmcf), while demand is around 2500mmcf.
Of the produced gas, 55 percent goes to the power plants, 16 percent to industries, 12 percednt to fertiliser factories, 11 percent to households, 5 percent to CNG stations, and the remaining 1 percent is consumed by the commercial clients, tea-gardens and others.
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