Kenya Power has now revealed top government institutions and devolved units that have defaulted on their electricity bill resulting in the ballooning debt of Ksh1.1 billion.
The struggling firm stated that the unpaid bills are driving the power firm into deeper financial woes with the latest structural changes in the company.
The national government and seven county governments have been named in that list together with other domestic account holders and small businesses.
Defaulters in the list include seven counties all from the Central Rift. The counties include,Nakuru, Kericho, Bomet, Narok, Baringo, Nyandarua and Samburu.
Despite the huge unpaid bills, Kenya Power has not cut the supply. This is despite the counties receiving funding from the national government.
According to Regional Manager, counties and the national governments account for about four per cent of Kenya Power’s debts, which is about ksh44 million.
Domestic account holders are the highest defaulters with about 75 per cent of the overdue debts.
Small businesses also contribute to the ballooning debt that has contributed to the increased troubles of the firm.
“We have received a positive response in the settlement of the outstanding electricity bills from a majority of our customers. This has complemented our internal efforts in revenue collections and debt reduction by Sh300 million. By the end of this year, we want our debt portfolio to reduce to Sh800 million as we aim at zero debt,” stated Syengo.
But to address the increasing debt, Kenya Power has devised a new strategy that would see more than one million customers pay their bills on time.
The new plan includes installing smart meters and fitting more houses and companies with the new gadgets.
“continue sourcing these meters because they give good results and have reduced electricity theft by 13 per cent," he stated.
Also, the company revealed that it has started collaborating with local authorities such as chiefs to deal with cases of vandalism in the country.
Vandalism has been a headache to the company with the recent incident plunging the entire nation into a blackout.
So far several arrests have been made to tackle the issue after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed law enforcement officers to take punitive action against perpetrators.
