The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has issued a public alert warning customer of an emergency system disruption affecting the purchase of electricity tokens.
In a notice on Thursday, June 26, Kenya Power said that the disruption will affect prepaid customers for two hours starting from 11:00 p.m.
“Kenya Power wishes to inform its prepaid customers that electricity token purchase services will be temporarily unavailable for two hours starting at 11:00 p.m. tonight. This is due to an emergency system maintenance exercise aimed at improving service efficiency and enhancing customer experience,” said KPLC.
To avoid any inconvenience, customers have been advised to purchase tokens before the scheduled maintenance time.
For assistance, customers were directed to reach Kenya Power through their national contact centre by calling 97771, dialling USSD *977#, or messaging the company on its official social media platforms.
Kenya Power system disruption
KPLC had on Monday, May 12, confirmed that the company was experiencing a system interruption that was affecting the payment of electricity bills through its Paybill 888888.
The company directed customers to make payments at the Kenya Power banking halls located at various points across the country as it was working to restore normalcy.
According to Kenya Power, the bill allocated through tokens consists of customers’ electricity usage and additional charges, including taxes and levies, which the utility company collects on behalf of government agencies.
Also Read: List of Banks KPLC Customers Can Use to Purchase Tokens
KPLC bills customers for electricity consumption during the billing period.
One unit corresponds to one kilowatt hour, which equals 1, 1,000 watts of power used for one hour.
The company also utilises a portion of this revenue to purchase bulk power from electricity-generating companies, which it then retails to its consumers.
It also collects taxes and third-party levies, including fuel cost charges.
Kenya Power collects this charge and forwards it directly to electricity-generating companies, who consequently pay fuel suppliers.
“The money does not constitute any income to KPLC. The fuel charge is related to international fuel prices as well as the quantity of oil used for the generation of thermal power,” Kenya Power stated.
Furthermore, Kenya Power gathers the foreign exchange component, which relates to the fluctuation of hard currencies against the Kenyan Shilling for expenses associated with the power sector (e. g. project loan repayments).
WARMA & ERC
KPLC also collects the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) levy which it forward to the regulatory body of the energy sector. It is currently set at 3 cents per kilowatt hour.
Also Read: Explainer: Why KPLC Customers Get Different Tokens for Same Amount
Additionally, the company collects a levy on behalf of the Water Resource Management Authority (WARMA).
This levy pertains to water used by hydro power plants with a capacity equal to or exceeding 1 MW, as approved by the commission.
REP & VAT
The company also collects the REP Levy, which amounts to 5% of the cost of the units consumed.
It passed this levy to the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) for the execution of rural electrification projects.
Finally, Kenya Power charges Value Added Tax (VAT) at 16% passed to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
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