Kenya Power Building in Nairobi CBD. The Parliament Investment Committee (PIC) has ordered Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) to reveal the identities of owners of power producer firms which made Ksh.50.2 billion in sales to KPLC in the year 2020.
Kenya Power has also been asked to table its 17 Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the Office of the Clerk of National Assembly by close of business on June 16, 2021.
PIC Chair Abdulswamad Nassir issued a directive after the KPLC Managing Director Bernard Ngugi revealed that it would require more time to obtain consent and authorization from the courts. Kenya Power and Lighting Company engineers load a transformer into a lorry. Ngugi also stated that the disclosure would be unnecessary since a government-appointed task force was already reviewing them.
In March 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed a task force to review the PPA with the goal of renegotiating energy prices and other terms downwards.
In the signed PPAs between Kenya Power and the energy suppliers, KPLC is obliged to pay capacity charges to the firms whether or not it is able to sell the acquired electricity.
The electricity supplier failed to sell 24.26% of the 2.8 billion kWh it bought from power generators.
Kenya Power Purchasing costs for the financial year 2020 stood at Ksh82.1 billion, half of its operating costs .
Electricity sales have dropped owing to lower average annual growth consumption-3.5% than the projected 6%.
Garissa Town MP Aden Duale had earlier told the National Assembly that independent power producers sell electricity to Kenya Power at Ksh 23 per kilowatt-hour, while KenGen offers the same at Ksh 0.50.
KPLC recorded Ksh.940 million loss after taxes in the 2020 financial year compared to Ksh.260 million profit registered in 2019. This, despite a Ksh.6.1 billion tax cushion issued to the electricity supplier by the government.
The management made a recommendation for the nonpayment of dividends to shareholders.In May 2021, Kenya Power issued a notice for planned staff lay-offs as part of a turnaround strategy to improve financial and operational aspects to enhance sustainability.However, they canceled the tender advertisement for procurement of consultancy services for the development and subsequent implementation of a comprehensive transformation strategy. File image of Kenya Power electricians at work
