The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has issued an update on a massive power outage that was experienced on Friday, September 6 morning.
KPLC in a statement on Friday said that it has successfully restored power supply to parts of North Rift, Western, Central Rift, Nairobi and Mt.Kenya.
This includes major towns such as Nyeri, Embu, Kirinyaga, Nanyuki, Nakuru, Naivasha, Thika, Eldoret, Kericho, Kakamega, Siaya, Busia, Vihiga, Kisumu, Bungoma and Webuye.
Kenya Power had earlier announced that it was working hard to restore the power while confirming the blackout.
KPLC noted that the blackout affected several parts of the country except sections of North Rift and Western regions.
The utility company also regretted that the outage had plunged the country into darkness.
“We are experiencing a power outage affecting several parts of the country, except sections of North Rift and Western regions.
We apologize for the inconvenience and kindly ask for your patience as our engineers work swiftly to restore service,” read part of the statement.
“We will keep you updated on the progress and share more information on the restoration efforts as soon as possible.”
A spot check by The Kenya Times had established that many Kenyans from different parts of the country experienced power blackout in their areas.
KPLC Blackout
This included the capital city Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu County and areas within Western Kenya towns of Kakamega and Bungoma.
Also Read: KPLC Blackout: Nationwide Power Outage Hits Kenya, Again
This comes after the Ministry of Energy on Thursday announced its commitment to significantly reduce the occurrence of power outages nationwide.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi made the announcement while saying that the Ministry has rolled out comprehensive strategies aimed at tackling challenges bogging the sector, including high electricity costs, grid reliability, and poor consumer sentiment.
CS Wandayi’s announcement came days after the country experienced yet another national blackout on Friday last week, from around 9pm, which KPLC also confirmed.
The CS stated that the ministry is working to reduce the frequency of these blackouts, adding that the government has set up a special team to respond to blackouts in record time.
Also Read: Explainer: Why KPLC Customers Get Different Tokens for Same Amount
“There was a malfunction of one of our equipment at the Suswa substation,” said CS Wandayi on the recent blackout.
Wandayi on Power Blackouts
The CS remained noncommittal on the exact measures to eradicate blackouts but said the government is doing all it can to ensure that Kenyans enjoy a stable supply of power.
“I am not here to tell you that blackouts are a thing of the past. What I am here to tell you is that we have put in place measures and systems that would first and foremost mitigate the blackouts. But if they happen, there will be a system to respond swiftly to the blackout and restore power in the shortest time possible,” noted Wandayi.
“We are also continuing to invest in infrastructure, both at the generation level by KenGen and at the transmission level by KETRACO.”
The two successive blackouts are the latest nationwide outage after months of stability.
In last week’s blackout, KPLC announced that it had restored power in various parts of the country minutes to midnight.
Kenyans called out CS Wandayi who had in August 2023 criticized Kenya Power over constant blackouts.
He said, “Kenyans are currently paying the highest tariffs ever for electricity consumption including being charged for the power they have not consumed.”
Wandayi added, “Frequent nationwide power outages not only expose KPLC incompetence but also compromises national security while denting economic production.”
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