The energy regulator has distanced itself from Kenya Power's scheme to recover fuel costs from electricity consumers that resulted in inflated bills.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in documents filed in court said it had given accurate information relating to the fuel cost charge to Kenya Power to enable it to bill its clients, which is usually the case every month.
ERC Director-General Pavel Oimeke was responding to a suit filed by lawyer Apollo Mboya, suing Kenya Power as well as the commission for overcharging electricity consumers to recover fuel costs that were not charged in the course of last year. The lawyer in January took on the electricity retailer in a pro bono class action suit where he is seeking to stop the firm from recovering more than Sh10 billion deferred fuel costs.
Kenya Power in its annual report for the year to June 2017 said it undercharged consumers last year by not passing on the full costs it incurred.
In November and December, the firm’s clients complained of unusually high bills, which the utility firm said were not backdated but a fault that came about following a change in its IT systems.
Following the filing of the suit in January, the High Court temporarily stopped Kenya Power and ERC from backdating power bills. Mr Mboya has, however, claimed that Kenya Power backdated January bills and asked the court to find both the electricity retailer and ERC in contempt of court.
But Mr Oimeke sought to absolve the commission from any blame, saying the fuel cost charge given to Kenya Power was a true reflection of the reality on the ground and not an attempt to backdate the charges.
“No prejudice was suffered by consumers in the month of December 2017 since they were billed with the proper changes,” he said in an affidavit filed in court on February 28.
“The petitioners have not demonstrated that the second respondent (ERC) has backdated the billing in breach of the court order.”
The regulator, however, admitted publishing the wrong information in the Kenya Gazette regarding the amount consumers were to pay for fuel and the other adjustable charges in December.
