What power costs Bangladeshi industry
BERC raised retail tariffs by an average of 16.68% in June 2026. Here are the rates that apply, what they mean for a factory running through daylight hours, and how to work out your own exposure.
June 2026 revision
What changed
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission raised electricity prices with effect from 3 June 2026. Wholesale prices rose 19.85% and retail prices rose by an average of 16.68%, as part of a move to reduce the subsidy burden on the sector.
Small industry moved from Tk 11.76 to Tk 12.73 per unit. Commercial and office consumers moved from Tk 13.01 to Tk 15.36 per unit. Your own rate depends on your category, connection voltage and time-of-use band, so read it off your bill rather than from this page.
What it means
A tariff rise is a solar revaluation
Rooftop solar does not sell you electricity at a price. It removes units you would otherwise have bought, which means its value is set by the tariff you escape.
The same array earns more
A system sized against a Tk 13.01 tariff is worth roughly 18% more per unit generated at Tk 15.36, with no change to the hardware, the roof or the design. Payback shortens on its own.
Daylight consumption is the multiplier
Solar offsets consumption while the sun is up. An operation running two shifts through daylight captures far more of the benefit than one that runs mainly at night, even on an identical roof.
The exposure compounds
This was a single revision, and the direction of travel for subsidised tariffs is generally upward. A twenty-five year asset priced against today’s tariff is being valued conservatively if tariffs keep rising.
Diesel is the worse comparison
Where a site runs generators during outages or peak windows, the relevant comparison is not the grid tariff at all. It is the delivered cost of diesel per unit, which is usually several times higher.
Working it out
How to calculate your own exposure
You can do this from one bill in about ten minutes, and it is worth doing before anyone quotes you a system.
Take your effective rate, not the headline
Divide the total bill by units consumed. That gives the figure that actually matters, including demand charges, VAT and any surcharges, which is usually higher than the tariff table suggests.
Establish what share of load is in daylight
If you run a single day shift, most of your consumption is addressable. If you run continuously, roughly a third to a half typically falls in generating hours, depending on the season and the shift pattern.
Check your sanctioned load
Under the 2025 net metering guidelines your system is capped at 100% of sanctioned load. That sets the largest system you are permitted, before the roof sets the largest system that fits.
Multiply through a year
Expected annual generation, multiplied by your effective rate, is the gross annual saving. Against installed cost, that gives a first payback figure worth testing properly.
Honest caveats
Read your own bill
Tariff categories in Bangladesh are more granular than any summary page can be, and they are revised. The figures here are the published rates from the June 2026 revision for the categories most commonly asked about. Your own category and effective rate should be taken from your bill, and we will do that with you rather than assume it.
Sources: BERC retail and wholesale tariff revision effective 3 June 2026, as reported by Dhaka Tribune, The Daily Star and The Business Standard, June 2026.
We will read the bill for you
Send a recent electricity bill and we will come back with your effective rate, the system your sanctioned load permits, and what it would save at current tariffs.