Kenya Power is eyeing a shipment of over 300,000 electricity meters early next year to resume stalled power connections around the country.
The electricity distributor says an acute shortage of the gadgets due to supply hitches had stalled new connections around the country, fomenting a crisis but the planned imports will ease the backlog.
Kenya Power acting Chief Executive Geoffrey Muli attributed the supply hitches to delays caused by long-winded court cases and pending approval of procurement plans.
The power firm had been embroiled in a dispute with local manufacturers of the gadgets in long drawn-out legal fights before the procurement watchdog that delayed procurement leading to the biting shortage.
The local players have been demanding representation in the distribution of the tenders awards alleging discrimination.
Kenya Power in March announced it would restrict the meters tender to a few firms according to its internal documents.
Kenya Power says to grow sales, the company connected 641,237 new customers to the electricity grid, raising the total number of customers to 8,919,440.
Kenya Power is betting on smart meters to eliminate continued energy theft, reduce increasing electricity demand, lower operating costs and protect revenue.
See Also:
