Kenya Power on Sunday, January 4, announced that there would be power rationing in 12 counties based in Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley.
In a statement, Kenya Power noted that the controlled interruptions were due to the unavailability of the North Rift transmission power line.
“A section of the transmission power line in North Rift is currently unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances arising from critical reinforcement works undertaken on a section of the line earlier today,” the statement read in part.
Regions that will be affected include Eldoret, Nandi, Bungoma, Kakamega, Kisumu, Busia, Nakuru, and Nyandarua.
Others include Kericho, Bomet, Kisii, and Homabay counties.
According to the statement, residents of the area will endure intermittent power outages for two hours at a time.
This was the second time in less than a month that Kenya was experiencing outages due to the failure of the North Rift power transmission line.
On January 7, Kenya Power announced that it had lost the line arising from critical maintenance works that were being done on the section.
Kenya is in the process of unbundling a power transmission line in a project that will cost the taxpayer Ksh37 billion.
The project is funded by the Africa Development Bank which is one of Kenya’s largest financiers of development and infrastructure projects.
According to a December 2023 Cabinet resolution, the unbundling of transmission lines will ensure that the failure of one line does not cause a national blackout.
Additionally, Kenya is exploring a power-sharing plan with Tanzania and other East African countries where electricity for each nation will be tapped from one shared grid.
