NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 18 – Electricity bills are set to remain high at least until the end of March next year, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has said.
KPLC Managing Director Joseph Njoroge said on Friday that the country had not received adequate rainfall in the last three months to warrant switching off emergency power production.
“Things are not looking very good on the side of rains and we are not optimistic about the impending rains,” he said.
He said they were waiting for the short rains season in March to gauge whether hydro power generation would come back online.
With global oil prices on the rise, Mr Njoroge said consumers should expect a slight fluctuation in their power bills in the coming months.
“Fuel cost is a pass through cost based on the amount of fuel we use and the cost in the global market. That is the only figure that keeps changing on the power bill,” he explained.
The KPLC boss however assured Kenyans there would be sufficient power supply until then, adding that they had sufficient power from independent power producers, and emergency power generators.
“We feel that it would be better to give customers power at a higher cost rather than denying it to them.”
At the same time it has emerged that there will be a delay in the countrywide distribution of the one million energy saving bulbs.
Mr Njoroge explained the shipment had experienced technical difficulties en-route to Kenya forcing KPLC to push forward the disbursement.
The process is now scheduled to begin in mid January and is set to continue until the end of February.
Mr Njoroge added priority would be given to those in rural and urban centers.
A calculation of power usage will be conducted to determine how many bulbs will be given per house.
“We will probably give each household a bulb to use in the living room, kitchen and for security lighting,” he said.
