Access to electricity in Coast reaches 73per cent, Kenya Power says

Access to electric power supply in Coast region has now reached 73.42 per cent.

Kenya Power stated that in 2013, the penetration was at 23 per cent.

Speaking on the sidelines of an inaugural meeting with tourism stakeholders meeting under the aegis of the Kenya Coast Tourist Association (KCTA) at the Flamingo by Pride Inn Resort, Kenya Power Mombasa County Manager, Mr Hicks Waswa said that the firm is keen on leveraging on the experienced growth to boost its revenues.

''We hope to boost our revenues from selling electricity to consumers while at the same time positively contributing to the growth of the economy,'' he said.

He lauded KCTA for availing them the opportunity to engage with key customers particularly those from the hospitality sector at the Coast.

''We are delighted at the prospects of having to engage with stakeholders in the tourism industry. This is part of the company’s continuous engagement with its key customers,'' he said.

The forum, held in partnership with Kenya Coast Tourist Association, was aimed at improving customer experience and strengthening relationship between the two parties.

Kenya Power has been holding engagement forums with different stakeholders to share company plans and get feedback on service delivery. During the engagement, issues affecting the hotel and tourism industry were discussed.

On his part, KCTA national chairman, Mr Victor Shitakah said that they were impressed with progress by Kenya Power on power supply to consumers but added that more needed to be done to ensure that power outages are a thing of the past.

''A sector like the one we are serving required an uninterrupted power supply. Kenya Power can do more to ensure that the industry is not bogged down with power outages and frequent blackouts,'' Shitakah who is also the Regional Manager (Coast) Pride Inn Group of Hotels said.

KCTA CEO, Mr Julius Owino said that apart from Mombasa, they will also be conducting a joint session with hoteliers and Kenya Power in all the six counties at the Coast.

''KCTA uses such forums as we do our advocacies aimed at ensuring tourism flourishes,'' Owino said.

Also present was Mombasa County Chief Officer for Tourism, Mr Innocent Mugabe and Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) chairman, Mr Mohamed Hersi.

Waswa said that Kenya Power is committed to providing a supportive and conducive environment to ensure the hotel industry thrives, prospers and continually contributes to the national economy.

He added that they have set up a customer experience department to improve on resolution, feedback and general business performance.

''In addition, the Company has established Industrial Liaison and SME offices across the regions to improve communication with customers and for coordinated and efficient response to emerging issues such as billing, outages and metering resolutions,'' he stated.

 Waswa said that the company has also embarked on implementation of various measures to improve reliability and quality of electricity supply to enhance service delivery.

In the Coast Region, Kenya Power has recently invested more than Sh585 million in upgrade and installation of new infrastructure such as substations, transformers and distribution lines to adequately serve the growing number of domestic and SME customers.

Some of the ongoing projects in the Coast Region include a new 33kV line from Galu to Diani, new sub-station at Mtondia and a sub-station at Sabaki.