Power bills will remain unchanged in February after hitting an
all-time high last month due to an increase in the intake of expensive
diesel-generated electricity to compensate for hydropower dips.
Homes
that consume 200 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, mostly middle class,
will pay Sh4,068. This payoff is equivalent to Sh20.34 per unit of
electricity consumed in February.
Low-income earners
who consume 50 units monthly will similarly continue paying Sh682,
according to data from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
This
bottom consumers (0-50 units) enjoy government’s subsidised tariff with
their monthly bill translating to a cost of Sh13.65 per unit of
electricity, nearly Sh7 lower per unit of what is paid by consumers
outside the 0-50 units band.
Homes and businesses can self-check their billing calculations on https://stima.regulusweb.com/.
The
ERC data shows that January recorded the highest monthly power
consumption, having crossed the 900 million units mark for the first
time, to stand at an intake of 918.9 million units. This indicates
rising activity in the economy.
The
February static power bills came after the regulator raised the fuel
levy to a 40-month high of Sh4.51 per kWh from Sh4.30 in January but
reduced the forex levy by a similar margin. The forex levy is down by
Sh0.21 per unit, offsetting the fuel charge’s rise of Sh0.21, which has
left February power bills in a neutral position.
The ERC reviews the two main pass-through costs in consumer power bills every month.
The
fuel surcharge is linked to the amount of power produced by diesel
generators and injected into the national grid while forex charge
compensates for foreign currency costs, including loans that power
producers have in their books.
Electricity distributor Kenya Power
is fighting court charges of inflating its monthly billings.
The
annual report of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm showed it
was backdating bills worth Sh8.1 billion to recover costs incurred on
diesel generators last year, which were not fully billed to homes and
businesses between last February and August.
This
action was taken to keep a lid on rising power prices as drought deeply
cut hydropower production. The bill is part of the Sh10.1 billion
identified as unrecovered power fuel costs in Kenya Power’s annual
statement for the year ended June 2017.
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