Press Release

14th August, 2013

PRESS STATEMENT ON

ELECTRICITY CONNECTION CHARGES

  1. BACKGROUND TO POWER CONNECTION CHARGES
  • Kenya Power has been charging applicants for new connections Shs.34,980 for a single phase, and Shs.49,080 for a three phase connection. These figures are inclusive of VAT and the deposit for the customer’s account.
  • These charges were set 2004, i.e. ten years ago.
  • At the time, government and Kenya Power embarked on a programme to facilitate accelerated electricity access.
  • New connections rose annually from 48,949 in 2004/05 to 307,101 in 2011/12
  • The accelerated new connections increased the customer base from 735,000 to 2.2 million representing an increase of 180 per cent over the same period.
  • The accelerated connections also raised electricity access from 12 per cent of the population to 35 per cent currently.
  1. COST OF NEW CONNECTIONS
  • In January this year, Kenya Power sought to revise upwards the cost of new connections.
  • That decision was informed by increased costs of materials used for connecting new customers, transport and labour, over the ten years.
  • For instance, between 2007 and 2011:
  • Cost of wooden poles rose from Shs.8,382 to Shs.12,150 representing an increase of 144 percent;
  • Cost of a cut-out fuse rose from Shs.437 to Shs.1,224 representing an increase of 280 percent;
  • Cost of one metre of 16mm2 cable rose from Shs.39 to Shs.86 representing an increase of 220 percent;
  • While the cost of one metre of saddle conduit rose from Shs.10 to Shs.45 representing an increase of 450 percent.
  • Kenya Power has therefore been subsidising connectivity using its own resources to plug the gap between the actual cost of new connection and the cost set in 2004, resources which were meant for other critical projects, such as improvement of quality of power and reduction of blackouts.
  • The government recognises that high cost of new connections is a challenge to most citizens who wish to connect to the grid.
  • Consequently, it has decided to support Kenya Power in maintaining the connectivity costs at the old rate of Shs.34,980 for a single phase, and Shs.49,080 for a three phase connection for the next three months i.e. September, October and November, for 100,000 new connections by injecting Shs.2.7 billion for the exercise.
  • At the same time, the government through the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum has detailed the Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct a study that will determine the actual economic cost of new connections, to be ready within the next three months.

Ends…

For more information, contact:

Kenya Power Corporate Communications Dept.

Tel. 3201622/28 or 47

Email:

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