Kenya Power has declared new plans to raise electricity prices by up to 20 and is already engaging the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) regarding the same.
If the request is passed the electricity distributor will raise charges for consumers using less than 10kWh per month to Ksh 12.5 per unit up from Ksh 10. Additionally, the firm will increase costs for consumers whose monthly consumption exceeds 100 units to Ksh 19.53 per unit from the current Ksh 15.80.
Ministry of Energy has pointed out that Kenya power requires more money to cover the cost of buying wholesale electricity from generators such as KenGen and maintenance of the national grid, hence the planned hikes.
The cost of buying electricity from power generators such as KenGen soared by Ksh 18 billion last year, dampening the effect of a rise in sales.
The electricity distributor has made a loss of Ksh5.6 billion in revenues between March and June this year, owing to low power consumption due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Electricity consumption dropped by about 14.8%, corresponding to a reduction in energy consumption by about 341 GWh. Subsequently, electricity sales returns dropped by about Ksh 5.6 billion.
Kenya power has in the recent past issued a profit alert, meaning the utility’s net earnings are projected to drop by at least 25% compared to last year’s net profits.
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