The overhaul of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company that is intended to lower the cost of electricity in the country is set to begin immediately,
Speaking in Kajiado, the Committee Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiag’i who chairs the Cabinet Committee on national government projects said the Government will implement the proposed reforms on KPLC by a task force appointed by the President.
‘In the coming weeks, we will launch an aggressive program to address the challenges in the energy sector. We are certain that the prices of fuel will not only come down but even the bills and the costs of electricity we are paying will come down. The high cost of power is affecting the county’s competitiveness in attracting local and foreign investments and also frustrating businesses’ profitability” interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiag’i
In the report presented to the President on Wednesday, the task force chaired by John Ngumi proposed an overhaul of the KPLC be supervised by the Cabinet and a review of the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) between Kenya power and private firms.
The Government will expand the recommendations of the task force to undertake a wider review and overhaul of the entire energy sector, Dr Matiang’i said
The task force on Kenya power blamed the high cost of electricity in the country on contracts that unfairly benefited independent power producers at the expense of KPLC and consumers and recommended the review of all such contracts within four months.
Recently, Kenya Power withdrew an application to increase bills by up to a fifth, shifting its focus to lowering costs, curbing electricity theft and recovery of unpaid bills amounting to over Kes 27 billion.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter said the firm recalled the application that was submitted to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in 2019.
In the application, the firm had sought to increase the consumption charge for usage of fewer than 100 kilowatts per month to Kes12.40 per unit from the current Kes 10. The charge for consuming above 100 units was to rise to kes 19.53 a unit from the current Kes15.80. However, Kenya power held that that the higher tariffs were justified because the present electricity prices lapsed in 2019.
