Kenyans have in recent times raised concerns over the varying allocation of electricity tokens, seeking to understand how and why Kenya Power, has a list of levies attached to its receipt.
With the high cost of living and spiking inflation, electricity is becoming a thorn in the flesh of many. But how does the Power company determine the units you get for a specific amount?
Kenyans.co.ke breaks down how the levies are calculated:
ERC LEVY:
This is a levy passed on to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the regulatory arm of the energy sector. It is currently set at 3 cents per kilowatt hour.
REP LEVY:
This is a 5% levy on the cost of the units of power consumed by a customer. It is passed on to the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) for implementation of the rural electrification projects.
FUEL COST CHARGE (FCC):
This is the added cost or rebates to the consumers as a result of fluctuations in world prices as well as fluctuations in the quantity of oil consumed by electricity generation.
The fuel cost charge lags one month behind the actual price of the fuel. This money is collected by Kenya Power and passed on directly to electricity generation companies, who in turn pay fuel suppliers.
CONSUMPTION CHARGE:
This is your electricity consumption within the billing period. One unit is equivalent to a one-kilowatt hour.
KPLC uses part of this money to procure bulk power from electricity-generating companies, which it retails to its customers.
FOREX ADJUSTMENT (FOREX):
The foreign exchange component is related to the fluctuation of hard currencies against the Kenya Shilling for expenditures related to the power sector e.g projects loan repayments.
VAT (16%):
This statutory levy amounts to 16% of the total bill and is passed on to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
WARMA levy:
For energy purchased from hydropower plants above 1MW.
KILOWATT (KW):
1 Kilowatt (KW) = 1,000 Watts. A kilowatt–hour (KWH) is the basic unit of electrical energy equal to I Kilowatt or 1,000 Watts of power used for one hour. The amount of power the customer uses is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
Meanwhile, Kenyans will dig deeper into their pockets to cater for an increase in the cost of electricity after Kenya Power started implementing a 21 per cent hike in power charges that was gazetted by the Energy and Petroleum Regulating Authority (EPRA), pushing higher the cost of the essential commodity.
EPRA, increased the cost of electricity by 21%, driving the cost of one kilowatt from Ksh.24 to Ksh.25.3 for domestic consumers, up from Ksh.21.87 in January this year.
