The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has given Kenya Power the go ahead to hike electricity tariffs. Kenya Power has been pursuing tariff increase of up to 20 percent for the past one year.
The Business Daily cites sources at EPRA as saying that the changes will be unveiled in the coming weeks and subjected to public participation prior to gazettement. A tariff hike will be favourable to Kenya Power’s turnaround strategy but it is likely to hurt the households and firms utility expenses.
In this case, the consumption charge for usage of less than 100 kilowatts will increase to Ksh12.59 from the current Ksh10. On the other hand, firms and households whose consumption exceeds 100 units will part with Ksh19.53 a rise from the current Ksh15.80.
EPRA reduced the electricity tariffs in November 2018 for users whose consumption fell below 100 units from Ksh15.80 to Ksh10. However, the temporary cut elapsed in July 2019 prompting Kenya Power to seek the regulator’s approval to revert to the earlier tariff rates.
Kenya Power justifies the tariff hike saying that it will cushion it from losses and supplier defaults. In addition, higher tariffs will cover the costs of capital intensive building and maintaining the nationwide electricity distribution infrastructure.
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