Electricity consumers queue to pay electricity bills at the Kenya Power offices in Nakuru. FILE PHOTO | NATION The Energy regulator has approved higher electricity prices in the wake of renewed push by Kenya Power to have the charges increased by at least 20 percent.
Sources at the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) told the Business Daily that the regulator had agreed to offer the utility a tariff hike, more than one year after Kenya Power submitted its application.
The higher tariffs will be revealed in the coming weeks and subjected to public participation before they take effect through a Kenya Gazette announcement.
If implemented, the higher tariffs will aid Kenya Power’s turnaround efforts, but hurt household budgets and raise the already high cost of doing business in Kenya.
“We have examined and approved the application by Kenya Power which will now be published for stakeholder consultations,” said an EPRA source, who sought anonymity.
“The difference between what was applied for and what we have approved is not much. This could have been completed earlier but the surge in Covid-19 cases has slowed the progress recently.”
Kenya Power wants to increase the consumption charge for usage of less than 100 kilowatts per month to Sh12.50 a unit, up from the current Sh10.
The charge for consuming above 100 units will rise to Sh19.53 a unit from the current Sh15.80 in the event that the regulator approves the proposed tariffs.
Kenya Power holds that that the higher tariffs are justified because the present electricity prices lapsed last year.
In 2018, EPRA reduced the retail prices of electricity after an order from President Uhuru Kenyatta in the wake of widespread complaints from domestic customers and small businesses over a costly tariff introduced last July.
The tariff almost doubled the monthly bills for higher-income households, triggering the complaints.EPRA cut the tariff from November 2018 to July 2019 to Sh10 per kilowatt hour from Sh15.80 for customers who use below 100 kilowatts per month.Kenya Power, citing the expiry of the temporary tariffs, has pushed for a review of the charges upwards and try to reverse its falling earnings, which has seen it issue a profit warning this year — the third one in a row.The law provides that electricity tariffs be reviewed every three years, but the timetable has been erratic as the regulator has often delayed or amended the rates, partly due to the government seeking to ease […]
