Kenya Power has warned that consumers could spend more on paying electricity bills if the way leave charges could be included in energy bills.
While speaking during an engagement meeting with the Kenya Editors Guild, Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror stated that the cost of electricity could increase by up to 30% if the charges could be affected, which customers might bear as a pass-through charge.
“Kenya Power has over 319,000 kilometres of power lines across all 47 counties. The introduction of wayleaves on power lines will impact retail tariffs. Under the proposal to charge wayleaves on electricity infrastructure at a cost of Kshs.200 per meter, this translates into KShs.63.8 billion per year.
This is approximately 30% of the energy sector’s revenue requirements which must be recovered from the monthly electricity bills. The overall impact is that electricity will become unaffordable to a majority of Kenyans,” said Siror.
Kenya Power Warns Inclusion of Wayleave Charges Could Increase Electricity Cost
He further stated that Section 223 of the Energy Act 2019 prohibits any public entity from charging levies on public energy infrastructure without regulatory approval.
At the same time, Kenya Power MD reported that the cost of electricity has been steadily declining over the last twelve months.
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Siror attributed the decline to the appreciation of the Kenyan Shilling against the US Dollar.
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The Managing Director of Kenya Power stated that the strengthening of the shilling has led to lower pass-through costs for customers, including foreign exchange and fuel costs, which are significantly influenced by the prevailing dollar exchange rate.
“This has added to the gains from the decline in the base energy cost following a review of the electricity tariff in April 2023 which put in place a three-year tariff that provides for a lower cost per unit, starting in July of each of the three years. So far, the base tariff has declined from KShs. 19.04 per unit in 2023 to the current Kshs. 17.94,” said the Kenya Power MD.
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Kenya Power’s report on the cost of electricity declining comes just days after it hit a new record high with a peak demand of 2,316 MW recorded on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
In a statement, KPLC Managing Director and CEO Joseph Siror said the demand is 12 MW higher than the previous peak of 2,304 MW recorded on January 15, 2025.
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