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Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board

autonomous · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
S M Zia-Ul-Azim
Role
Chairman
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
1977
Legal basis
Rural Electrification Board Ordinance, 1977 (Ordinance No. LI of 1977), gazetted 31 October 1977; replaced in full by the Rural Electrification Board Act, 2013, which renamed the body Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board and remains the current governing statute

BREB is navigating three simultaneous pressures in mid-2026: (1) a pending BERC retail tariff order following the May 21 public hearing, with BPDB's upstream wholesale rate possibly rising 17-21% and all distribution utilities including BREB presenting their own retail hike proposals; (2) ongoing internal governance tension with PBS employees demanding a unified service code with BREB staff, resignation of Chairman Zia-Ul-Azim, and reinstatement of dismissed officials -- a government review committee has been deliberating since October 2024; and (3) a rural load-shedding crisis in April 2026 where villages absorbed 8-12 hours of daily cuts while the capital was largely spared, drawing sharp public criticism for inequality in distribution load management. The zero-loadshedding week of April 27-May 3 provided temporary relief but structural supply constraints remain.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

BREB was established by Ordinance No. LI of 1977 (gazetted 31 October 1977) and became operational in early 1978; the Rural Electrification Board Act, 2013 repealed the Ordinance and renamed the body Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board -- this is the current governing statute. BREB operates through 80 Palli Bidyut Samities (PBS), which are member-owned cooperative-style distribution entities modelled on US rural electric cooperatives. In September 2020, BREB completed 100% electrification of all 461 on-grid upazilas across 61 districts (out of 492 total upazilas nationally; 1 upazila served off-grid), covering approximately 82,305 villages. As of 2026, BREB distributes power to approximately 37.7 million consumers -- about 75% of Bangladesh's 49.7 million total electricity consumers. BREB is the largest single bulk electricity purchaser from BPDB, accounting for 53.8% of bulk sales to distribution utilities in FY2022 (World Bank data). Chairman Major General S M Zia-Ul-Azim (Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Bangladesh Army; holds MSc from BUET 1997, MBA Finance, M Def Studies) was appointed August 2024 following the August 5, 2024 political transition; his chairmanship is confirmed by New Age BD, Daily Sun photo captions (September and November 2024), and Wikipedia. The exact gazette date within August 2024 was not recoverable from public sources; head_since is recorded as 2024-08-01 as a conservative lower bound. PBS governance dispute: a faction of PBS employees launched sustained protests from late 2024 into 2025 demanding merger of PBS and BREB service rules, chairman's resignation, regularisation of meter readers, and reinstatement of dismissed staff; six PBS officials were arrested in October 2024 over power sector instability; government intervention in October 2024 postponed a planned complete shutdown ultimatum; 6,025 PBS employees were regularised and 704 BREB officers transferred by May 2025 as partial concessions. Five-member government review committee (BRAC University VC Syed Farhat Anwar, chair) formed October 2024 to evaluate whether REB and PBS should merge -- findings not yet published as of May 2026. Load shedding: rural feeders under BREB/PBS absorbed a disproportionate share of the April 2026 generation shortfall (Rangpur up to 12 hours/day, Chattogram 7-8 hours) due to distribution load management that protected urban commercial zones; Prothom Alo described this as structural 'power discrimination'. Zero-loadshedding week April 27-May 3 confirmed by BSS and Dhaka Tribune citing Power Division data. Budget and staff count not available in public sources; annual_budget_bdt and staff_count left null.

Sources