Electricity bills to ease, Kenya Power assures

Kenya Power Managing Director Ben Chumo. (Photo: File/Standard)

Kenya Power has moved to assure consumers that power bills will ease in coming months as the power distributor reverts to regular sources of energy. Kenya Power Managing Director Ben Chumo said the move will reverse the rise in electricity bills witnessed recently.

While acknowledging the increase in the July power bills, Chumo said this was due to the purchase of the more expensive thermal power to plug a gap he says was created with the closure of some geothermal plants for maintenance.

Chumo was speaking in Nairobi during a forum organised by the Kenya Property Developers Association. A number of players had taken issue with the jump in power bills despite the recent commissioning of geothermal power plants.

They warned the country stands to lose its competitive edge if energy takes up 30 to 40 per cent of production costs.

“I think lack of proper communication regarding the matter may have made some people feel that power bills will continue going up. However, let me assure you that power costs will come down as regular sources are used again,” said Chumo.

According to Chumo, what Kenya needs is adequate and reliable power, adding that the objective is being realised through the current installed capacity of 2,298 megawatts.

“We are currently using geothermal as the base load that is already overtaking hydro power. It is true that hydro power is cheaper but geothermal is more reliable as it is not subject to the vagaries of weather,” he stated.

However, he said the company loses 17.5 per cent for every 100 units from generators due to what is referred to as loss reduction. In comparison, Australia and Japan lose between five and seven per cent.

Boresha Umeme

Currently, power connectivity stands at 3.9 million customers giving electricity access to 47.7 per cent of Kenyans while the company hopes to connect 70 per cent of the population in two years’ time.

The company envisages universal connectivity by 2020. The company has received Sh43 billion from the Government to connect more Kenyans to the grid. Of this amount, Sh10 billion will be spent this year to upgrade the network under the Boresha Umeme programme.