NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 3 – Kenya Power and the Nairobi City County Government have completed a meter verification exercise aimed at improving the management of energy supply and billing.
The exercise, which began on January 24, 2023, aimed to identify and verify the metering locations owned by City Hall across Nairobi County.
It involved teams from both Kenya Power and the Nairobi County Government physically visiting metering locations to assess the status of each supply point.
The institutions in a joint report disclosed that the exercise covered a total of 7,596 supply locations, with 6,734 locations assessed in the first two phases, followed by 862 locations in the third phase.
According to the report, the exercise has revealed several concerns regarding the accuracy and functionality of the existing meters.
Of the 6,734 locations, 4,750 had active meters. However, the total outstanding debt for these active accounts stood at Sh1.4 billion as of September 2024.
Additionally, a significant number of meters were found to be faulty, with an outstanding debt of approximately Sh16 million.
In a worrying discovery, 1,823 locations were either missing meters or had meters that were not reading data, contributing to over Sh127 million in unpaid bills.
There were also 32 metering points that were inaccessible, hindering efforts to gather accurate readings and manage billing.
Similarly, 22 instances of repeated accounts were found, complicating the billing process even further.
“The total debt across all the supply points amounted to Kshs. 1.55 billion, including both active and faulty meter locations, as well as those with no meter readings,” read the report in part.
In light of these findings, the joint team has put forward several key recommendations for the Nairobi County Government to address the issues raised by the exercise.
The Nairobi County Government is urged to expedite payments on the 4,750 active accounts, which carry a total debt of over Sh1.4 billion.
There is also an immediate need to repair or replace faulty meters and ensure that all metering points are equipped with functional meters.
The report has called on City Hall to facilitate better access to metering points, ensuring that data collection can be carried out effectively.
Additionally, it advised the devolved unit to resolve duplicate accounts and ensure that records are accurate and properly attributed to the correct locations.
