In a proposal to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) landlords and other buildings including malls, owners may soon sell power to their tenants.
The move is aimed at increasing the revenue for Kenya Power, which trades under the ticker KPLC on Nairobi Stock Exchange. In addition, the move will reduce loopholes and the increasing number of cartels in the industry.
However, the proposal was met with resistance as many argued that landlords will misuse the power given to them by the state-owned institution.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke Somakazi CEO, Nicholas Gachara noted that it was a disaster in waiting and that landlords have been given too much power.
"The tenant will be forced to comply with the demands of the landlord which may be unreasonable. Even if Kenya Power regulates the rates at which the electricity will be sold, some rogue landlords will still overprice and smile all the way to the bank," he argued.
"It is however a plus for Kenya Power since all landlords and building owners will be accountable for all the power being used in their premises," he added.
Furthermore, Professor XN Iraki added that landlords could add a mark up which could make it more costly to the tenant.
"The model if not mismanaged would a win-win situation for Kenya Power. It would also be better if we bought power from other competitors to Kenya Power," he told Kenyans.co.ke.
In the new proposal landlords and owners of large buildings will buy power in bulk and resell it to the tenants.
According to Kenya Power's acting Managing Director Geoffrey Muli, the proposal called for lower tariffs for those buying the electricity in bulk to allow them to manage their customers.
"We are having new development of cities or people doing big malls, and they want to metre those customers," he added.
Earlier the state-owned institution proposed plans for private individuals to sell power to them which will later be sold to Kenyans.
