Kenya Power has said electricity prices would rise by 30 percent if it yielded to demands by counties to pay wayleave charges for its distribution lines.
Joseph Siror, chief executive at Kenya Power, said the electricity distributor faces a Sh63.8 billion bill on wayleave charges alone—a cost that would be passed to consumers, triggering a fresh surge in power bills.
Electricity consumers are currently enjoying a marginal drop in power bills largely due to a strong shilling, low fuel prices, and falling use of thermal power.
“The company is, however, concerned that the push for the inclusion of wayleave charges on power infrastructure will reverse this trend, pushing the cost of electricity by up to 30 percent, which customers could bear as a pass-through charge,” Mr Siror said on Tuesday.
Power bills have eased in recent months with prepaid consumers (those using 31 units to 100 units a month) getting 39.8 units for Sh1,000 on average compared to 39.3 units for a similar amount in January this year.
High power bills could further squeeze homes and firms at a time when inflation— a measure of the cost of living— hit a five-month high of 3.5 percent last month, the highest since the 2.7 percent recorded last October.
Mr Siror’s warning comes at a time when Nairobi County has demanded Sh4.9 billion in wayleave charges from Kenya Power, in a retaliatory tactic as the county seeks to delay paying a Sh3.01 billion power bill.
Kenya Power has decried the demands by Nairobi County, citing the Energy Act 2019 which bars public entities from charging wayleave fees without approval from the CS for Energy Cabinet secretary Opiyo Wandayi.
Section 33 of the Energy Act, 2019 bars public entities from charging Kenya Power wayleave for its network. The law further says that the entities can only demand the fees with approval from the Cabinet Secretary of Energy.
It is not clear whether Nairobi County got approval from Mr Wandayi in order to charge the fees, as required in law.
Kenya Power’s electricity transmission and distribution network spans over 319, 000 kilometres (km) across 47 counties, with the devolved units said to be keen on charging Sh200 per km as wayleave charges.
Nairobi County has since December last year demanded Sh5.13 billion from Kenya Power for wayleave charges.
A public spat followed and county officials dumped garbage, disconnected water, and blocked sewer at Kenya Power’s offices in retaliation after the firm disconnected electricity at some of the county’s offices.
