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Kenya Power MD Bernard Ngugi said the move will reduce and eventually wipe out electricity theft via illegal connections as it will be possible to trace the source of the power being illegally consumed.
The company is said to be tightening controls about its processes to keep away crooks who work with insiders to run illegal power connection empire.
Kenya Power has initiated talks with financiers to fund the metering of all its transformers to track electricity system loss through theft and transmission that costs the monopoly over Sh18 billion per year.
The firm said it had begun engaging financiers to bankroll the initiative starting from Nairobi where power theft hotspots have been mapped before rolling the project across the country.
Each meter is likely to cost about Sh70,000 given the estimate that Nairobi’s 10,000 transformers will be metered at approximately Sh700 million. This makes exercise across the country where there are close to 70,000 transformers, a multi-billion shilling venture.
Kenya Power Managing Director Bernard Ngugi said the move will reduce and eventually wipe out electricity theft via illegal connections as it will be possible to trace the source of the power being illegally consumed.
“We are in talks with financiers to meter all transformers to address the losses whereby we will be comparing the power leaving each transformer with the meter readings from all the customers that draw electricity from a particular transformer then we can tell exactly where we are losing the power. When all transformers are metered, we can reduce the commercial loss to zero,” Mr Ngugi said. Gadget tampering
While technical losses occur when electrical energy is dissipated in the process of transmission and distribution commercial losses are mainly attributed to pilferages, faulty meters and gadget tampering.
Mr Ngugi said commercial losses now account for 11 percent of power losses with the other 13 percent attributed to technical causes due to inefficiencies.
The plan will start from Nairobi where the bulk of Kenya power customers are based and where there have been massive losses from illegal connections. Kisii is also said to be a major hotspot for illegal connection.The company is said to be tightening controls about its processes to keep away crooks who work with insiders to run illegal power connection empire.Over 100 staff have been sacked for being involved in the backdoor power supply where applicants are targeted given lower offers to have their […]