The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has proposed changes that will force Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) to cap the number of times a customer experiences a blackout to 20 in a year.
EPRA has proposed to limit the System Average Interruption Frequency Indicator (SAIFI) to improve service delivery.
SAIFI refers to units of interruptions per customer and is usually measured over a year.
“The proposed code is about improving service delivery by the power utility company. There have to be benchmarks in service delivery,” an official at EPRA is quoted by Business Daily.
However, the proposals will only not apply to planned power outages scheduled by Kenya Power for maintenance and network upgrades.
EPRA Proposals
The proposal also restricts the total duration of unplanned blackouts, System Average Interruption Duration Indicator (SAIDI) to 80 hours per year.
SAIDI is the average total duration of outages (in hours) experienced by a customer annually.
According to KPLC records, customers experienced an average of 44.9 unplanned blackouts in the 2022/2023 financial year.
This an increase compared to 38.18 blackouts per customer in 2021/2022 and 29.29 in 2020/2021.
The targets will be improved to a maximum of 15 unplanned outages per year and a maximum of three hours per outage.
According to EPRA, the changes will also apply to power distributors who will join the market alongside KPLC.
Also Read: Kenya Power List of Everyday Appliances that Save Electricity
KPLC Blackouts
Kenya Power has been on the spot over high number of power interruptions in recent months.
KPLC was criticized after a power blackout hit most parts of the country on December 10, 2023, at around 8:30p.m.
The power distributor described the outage as ‘partial’ and managed to restore power in several parts of the at 10p.m.
KPLC explained that a fault had affected the power system leading to the countrywide blackout.
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The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) said the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was affected by the blackout even though it did not last for long.
“At approximately 8PM today, JKIA experienced a disruption in power supply due to an outage from the national grid. The airport’s backup generators were activated, with full restoration of power occurring within 8 – 20 mins,” noted KAA in a press statement.
On August 25, the country experienced a power blackout that lasted for hours, affecting JKIA as well.
According to Kenya Power, the outage in various parts of the country was because of a system disturbance.
