The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Monday issued a public notice clarifying on the new electricity tariffs following a public outcry on social media.
The commission sought to address concerns of Kenyans having to pay more for electricity under the new tariffs that came into effect on August 1, 2018, for the prepaid customers and July 1, 2018, for the postpaid customers.
"The ERC wishes to make the following clarification on the impact of the new tariffs on consumer power bills. The average retail tariff inclusive of taxes and levies reduces from 23.49 Kshs/KWh to 20.18 Kshs/KWh representing an overall reduction of 14.1%," read part of the notice.
[caption caption="Kenya Power's digital pre-paid electricity meter"]
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The retail tariffs for the domestic consumer category have been restructured into two distinct categories:
a) Domestic Consumer-Ordinary category: The threshold for the lifeline category has been reduced from 50KWh to 10KWh per month. This will benefit the 3.4 Million low income households who consume less than 10KWh in a month.
b) Domestic Consumer-Ordinary category: There will be an increase in tariff for customers consuming up-to 1000KWh in a month. Those who consume more will get a reduction in the overall bill.
The commission reiterated that the fixed charge had been eliminated and, therefore, prepaid customers will consistently receive the same number of units for a given amount of money in a particular month.
Additionally, the base year for determination of the Forex and Inflation adjustments has been revised to March 2017 hence there will be minimal adjustments monthly.
Announcing the new tariffs earlier in the month, ERC in a statement, stated that the changes are intended to have all Kenyans charged fairly given their distinctive consumption trends.
"To ensure that there is equity and consumers pay for power only when they consume, all fixed charges for all consumer categories have been removed. This is meant to reduce the many cost items in the customer bills and simplify understanding of the bills," stated the commission.
[caption caption="Public notice by ERC on 8/6/2018"]
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