A report presented at a press conference held on Sunday at the Power Division in Dhaka revealed that Bangladesh’s power sector incurred losses of Tk 500 billion over the past 15 years. The findings were shared by National Committee chief Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, who stated that the previous government used the severe power crisis as a means of financial exploitation while shielding wrongdoing through an indemnity ordinance.

According to the report, the ongoing financial strain, high electricity prices, and excessive generation capacity stem from long-term institutional and contractual failures rather than short-term crises. It highlighted that power plants were built without tenders, widespread corruption and irregularities occurred, and capacity payments increased twentyfold. The report also noted misuse of emergency powers, repeated renewals of special provisions, and disregard for competition laws, which led to transaction-based electricity pricing.

The report concluded that the combination of excessive plant construction and inflated pricing has placed the power sector at significant risk, driven by irregularities in contracts and governance failures.