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Industrialists save Sh688m on power bills for night, holiday production
The Time of Use tariff - a 50 percent discount for companies that operate during off-peak hours, serves to encourage electricity consumption at night, on weekends and during public holidays.
Some 2,452 industrial firms capitalised on discounted tariffs to produce goods during off-peak hours, saving Sh688 million on electricity bills between July and December 2024.
The companies have been taking advantage of the time of use (ToU) tariff - a 50 percent discount that Kenya Power offers companies that operate during off-peak hours - to produce goods when power costs are minimal.
The tariff serves to encourage electricity consumption at night, on weekends and during public holidays.
“The ToU beneficiaries cumulatively saved Sh688.7 million during the review period. During the review period, 84.9 GWh (gigawatt hours) of energy was sold under the ToU tariff, down from 107.5 GWh in the same period of the previous year,” Epra said.
In July 2024, 2,446 companies capitalised on production during off-peak hours, saving Sh149.7 million, the highest amount of savings recorded during the six months, the Epra report shows.
This was followed by December when 2,405 companies saved a cumulative Sh134.6 million on power bills by capitalising on production during three public holidays and five weekends in the month as many Kenyans took a break to rest during the festive season.
On average, 2,383 companies took advantage of the ToU tariff on a monthly basis over the six months when electricity tariffs increased amid fluctuations in some pass-through charges.
“The savings achieved in this period decreased by Sh201.9 million compared to the first half of the previous financial year,” Epra noted.
The authority did not provide details on what might have caused the reduction in off-peak power consumption by companies, but the stabilisation of the Kenyan currency and the inflation adjustment charge, which affects retail electricity prices, may have played a role.
Over the six months, the inflation adjustment charge on retail electricity prices was a flat Sh0.38/kWh and the foreign exchange rate adjustments ranged between Sh0.69 (November 2024) and Sh1.17 (August 2024).
The electricity sold by Kenya Power through the discount over the six months to December 2024 was 21 percent lower than in a similar period in 2023.
The ToU tariff is targeted at small commercial, commercial-industrial and e-mobility customers to incentivise them to consume electricity during off-peak hours. On weekdays, Kenya Power offers the discount between 10 pm and 6 am, and businesses that operate on Sundays and public holidays also pay a discounted rate.
