Ruto Orders CS Chirchir To Start Lowering Cost Of Electricity

The Cabinet expressed that hydro-generated power production had improved by over 20 per cent which was attributed to the ongoing heavy rainfall witnessed across various parts of the country.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Nov 27, 2023 - 19:08 Updated: Nov 27, 2023 - 19:09
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Ruto Orders CS Chirchir To Start Lowering Cost Of Electricity
President William Ruto chairing a cabinet meeting at State House on Monday, November 27, 2023. /PCS

President William Ruto on Monday, November 27 instructed the Ministry of Energy to increase the distribution of Hydro-generated power which could lead to a reduction in electricity prices.

A Cabinet despatch capturing the directives was sent to newsrooms moments after a press briefing by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed which followed an emergency Cabinet meeting convened by the Head of State at State House.

The Cabinet expressed that hydro-generated power production had improved by over 20 per cent which was attributed to the ongoing heavy rainfall witnessed across various parts of the country.

"Cabinet directed the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, in consultation with all agencies within the sector, to give priority to maximum production, uptake and distribution of hydro-generated power.

A Kenya Power token meter. /FILE

"Cabinet also directed the Ministry of Energy to pass the benefit of lower electricity tariffs to the public in a manner that promotes the increased use of hydro-generated power, which has presently increased to 20 per cent while diesel has gone down from 15% to 10%;" read the despatch in part.

In recent months, Kenyans have been hurting as they dealt with rising electricity charges as well as a rise in the cost of living.

Should the directive be effected, the hydro-generated power could see the prices per token unit go down.

On Tuesday, October 10, Viral Tea reported that Kenya Power silently increased its token prices, a matter which forced Kenyans to pay more for their own electricity.

The changes took effect the previous week in the monopoly firm's review of electricity costs, as depicted in the difference in tokens purchased on Wednesday, September 27 and Sunday, October 8.

On September 27, Kenyans purchased tokens worth Ksh100 and got 4.69 worth of tokens. On October 8, the same amount got Kenyans 4.36 worth of tokens.

Regarding the token purchase breakdown, the change in the value of tokens was depicted by the increase in the Fuel Energy Charge from Ksh19.49 to Ksh21.55.

This was a result of the increase in fuel prices by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) on September 14 where Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene during the month of October to November retailed at Ksh211.64, Ksh200.99 and Ksh202.61 respectively.

"Fuel Energy Charge is the added cost or rebates to the consumers due to fluctuations in world prices and in the quantity of oil consumed by electricity generation.

"The fuel cost charge lags one month behind the actual price of the fuel. Kenya Power collects this money and all of it is passed on directly to electricity generation companies, who in turn pay fuel suppliers," explained Kenya Power on its website.

However, there was a slight change regarding the EPRA charge which was reduced from Ksh0.37 to Ksh0.34.

REP Charge also dropped from Ksh2.86 to Ksh2.67, REP Charge referring to one which goes towards the last mile connectivity in rural areas.

"This is a 5 per cent 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," explains the power firm.

Nonetheless, the increase in token prices was also blamed on the Kenyan shilling losing its grip against the dollar, with the exchange rate at the time at Ksh148 per dollar, from Ksh145 per dollar. Right now, the exchange rate is at Ksh152.95 per dollar.

On March 24, 2023, EPRA approved higher power tariffs by Kenya Power which saw electricity prices go up by 63 per cent, one which aims to raise more money to fund the upgrade of its ageing distribution systems.

From Top Left: Details of a Ksh100 token purchased on September 27, 2023, and details of a similar token purchased on October 8, 2023. /VIRALTEAKE

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