According to Kenya Power, there has been a steady downturn in the cost of electricity in the country in the past year, a trend likely to be reversed by the recent row between the utility firm and Nairobi County Government.
Speaking in Nairobi on Tuesday, March 4, in a meeting with the Kenya Editors Guild, Kenya Power managing Director Joseph Siror attributed this to the strengthening of the shilling against the dollar, which has in turn resulted in lower pass-through costs to customers.
According to Siror, the base tariff declined from Ksh19.04 per unit in 2023, to Ksh17.94 in 2024.
“This has added to the gains from the decline in the base energy cost following a review of the electricity tariff in April 2023 which put in place a three-year tariff that provides for a lower cost per unit, starting in July of each of the three years. So far, the base tariff has declined from KSh 19.04 per unit in 2023 to the current Ksh17.94,” he said.
Siror, however, warned against the inclusion of wayleave charges in energy bills noting that this would propel the cost of electricity by up to 30%.
“Kenya Power has over 319,000 kilometers of power lines across all 47 counties. The introduction of wayleaves on power lines will impact retail tariffs. Under the proposal to charge wayleaves on electricity infrastructure at a cost of Ksh200 per meter, which translates into KShs.63.8 billion per year," he said.
"This is approximately 30% of the energy sector's revenue requirements which must be recovered from the monthly electricity bills. The overall impact is that electricity will become unaffordable to a majority of Kenyans,” he added.
The introduction of the wayleave charges will be a result of the fallout between Kenya Power and the Nairobi County Government which played out in public over the past two weeks culminating in the later disconnecting of fibre cable attached to power lines.
Initially, Kenya Power, which trades under the KPLC ticker on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, disconnected the county government's offices from the power grid over accumulated debt. In retaliation, the Johnson Sakaja-led office dumped garbage, clamped cars, and demanded the utility firm to pay wayleave charges.
In a statement to the press, Sakaja argued that the utility company owed the county government Ksh4.9 billion in wayleave fees.
Power Demand Uptick
Weeks ago, the power company reported a surge in power demand as electricity consumption reached a record high, with a peak demand of 2,316 megawatts (MW) recorded on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
According to a statement on February 17, 2025, by Kenya Power, the statistic marked an increase of 12 MW from the previous peak of 2,304 MW recorded on January 15, 2025.
The power company attributed the surge in electricity demand to the continued investments in stabilising the National Grid and the completion of key infrastructure projects.
Data from Kenya Power’s National Control Centre shows that peak electricity demand has steadily risen over the past three years, with the growth rate accelerating significantly in 2024.
"Looking at the trend, it took nearly two years for peak demand to grow by 200 MW. However, since June last year, peak demand has increased by over 116 MW. This translates to an average monthly growth of 14.5 MW over the last eight months," Siror said.
