Bangladesh’s power network has grown impressively, but what people notice isn’t capacity; it’s how long lights, fans, or pumps stay on. Counting dependable minutes, not megawatts, would bridge the gap between targets and reality.
Around the world, distribution reliability is measured using two plain-English yardsticks: System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), total outage minutes per customer per year, and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), average number of interruptions. Bangladesh is modernizing, yet the public still lacks automated, regularly published SAIDI/SAIFI data by ward.
The World Bank lists this digitization as “work-in-progress,” due by 2026.
The outages people feel are caused by a combination of factors, including upstream squeezes, tight gas supply, coal maintenance, and volatile imports. In September 2025, Bangladesh increased its imports from India and oil generation to cover gas and coal shortfalls.
Cross-border supply isn’t guaranteed: In late 2024, electricity from Adani’s Godda plant was cut by over 60% amid payment disputes, and Dhaka later halved purchases while disagreements persisted.
To bridge gaps, we burn oil, keeping lights on at a punishing price. Oil-fired plants produced approximately 11% of power, yet consumed 32% of fuel costs in FY 2023-24, more than twice the grid’s average cost. A tiny slice of energy eats a giant share of money.
Gas is a swing factor, too. As domestic output stagnates, Bangladesh leans harder on spot LNG, about 4–5 cargoes a month on top of term volumes. A delayed shipment can trigger week-long outages. We can’t control LNG prices, but we can control transparent, ward-level reliability at the meter.
A citizen-first plan can be executed within existing programs.
1) Publish ward-level outage dashboards monthly
Mandate automated outage logging at the feeder level across DESCO, DPDC, BREB, WZPDCL, and NESCO. Then, publish SAIDI/SAIFI by feeder and roll it up to ward maps that anyone can check on a phone.
Stop averaging away pain, name the worst feeders and the chronic brownout pockets. The program already calls for digital SAIDI/SAIFI systems, so make the outputs public, not hidden KPIs. You can’t fix what you don’t measure.
If a utility says “we’re not ready,” that proves the point. Updated materials still list SAIDI/SAIFI digitization as an active deliverable with a 2026 target, precisely why public reporting should be the forcing device.
2) Tie money to minutes with bonuses for improvement and penalties for failure
Today, we reward capacity, not reliability. Flip the incentive: Pay O&M (operations and maintenance) bonuses for cutting outage minutes on the 10 worst feeders each quarter and penalize misses. When SAIDI/SAIFI breach thresholds, bill credits should flow automatically, just as airlines compensate for delays. Suppose oil peakers must operate during a heat wave. In that case, the utility must demonstrate that it has exhausted all cheaper options first and minimized outage minutes at the lowest cost per kWh.
3) Replace oil with cheaper reliability solutions.
Reliability needn’t mean diesel. Deploy 300–500 MW of batteries on urban feeders and enlist interruptible industrial loads, especially in garments, so that the grid can ride through unit trips without torches or generators. Batteries can be tendered under availability contracts; factories can enroll specific processes (compressors, chillers, dyeing) for 15-30 minute interruption windows in exchange for tariff discounts or capacity payments. Given oil’s cost premium, every hour replaced by storage or demand response saves money and cuts brownouts.
4) Add voltage justice to reliability
A green “power on” light is of little use if voltage sags fry electronics or stall rooftop pumps. Utilities should publish voltage-quality maps and fast-track fixes for chronic low-voltage feeders through reconductoring, capacitor banks, or phase balancing. Feeders missing voltage standards for consecutive months should trigger consumer compensation, because voltage matters as much as uptime.
5) Ensure reliable LNG and transparent imports
Bangladesh will continue to import electricity and LNG, but a minute-by-minute regime can make those fluctuations more predictable. When Godda's power is down, maps should show which wards face a 72-hour rolling schedule. When a spot LNG cargo slips, update the feeder-level plan and stick to it. Citizens can manage fridges, lifts, and medications, provided they don’t encounter unexpected issues.
What changes if we do this?
- Debates shift from notional capacity to minutes of service restored.
- Utilities would have clearer incentives and flexibility to invest in essential maintenance and upgrades rather than focusing on new capacity announcements.
- The finance ministry gains clear sight between costly hours and actual reliability, strengthening the case for batteries and demand response over endless fuel subsidies.
- Citizens regain the dignity of planning their lives with accurate information.
This is not anti-import or anti-LNG, it’s pro-accountability. Imports and LNG will fluctuate, but payment disputes or cargo delays needn’t plunge cities into week-long chaos.
The poorest wards shouldn’t endure chronic brownouts while affluent areas install private fixes. Bangladesh can spend less yet deliver more certainty.
By July 2026, if SAIDI can be reduced by 30% on the ten worst urban feeders in each distribution company, and outage maps are published monthly, it would mark a bold, measurable, and achievable milestone within existing programs, no new miracle plants required. Future progress should be reported not in megawatts installed, but in the minutes of dependable electricity delivered to citizens.
Shaikh Afnan Birahim is a Bangladeshi writer, analyst, and postgraduate student at the University of Glasgow.