The revised power tariff will come into effect from this month. A public hearing was also conducted for the first time on June 18 to seek views of the general public on the revision proposal.
The tariff for Block I low voltage users has been increased by 10 chhetrums. Block I users are mostly rural households. They will now have to pay 85 Chhetrums for every unit of electricity used.
However, the energy block has been increased from 0-80 Kilowatt to one 100 kilowatt per hour. This means consumers falling in Block I will have to pay the revised tariff of 85 Chhetrums per unit for 100 units of electricity used. The power tariff for Block II, III and low voltage bulk users will increase by 5% every year for the next three years. Low voltage bulk users are institutions like the armed forces, hospitals and big hotels.
Industries which fall under the medium voltage users will see an increase of 7.8% annually for the next three years. Meanwhile, the power tariff for high voltage users will increase by 0.4% over the next three years.
The revised tariff rates were announced in a press conference yesterday. The Minister of Economic Affairs, Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said various factors were taken into consideration before the tariff was revised.
Lyonpo said they also took into consideration preventing wastage of electricity and the policy of Green Bhutan.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs said the trend in the past was a 10% increase.
The existing tariff was approved in 2007 for three years.
The revised tariff is for the next three years.
