Contrary to what is obtainable in Nigeria, the price of fuel as well as forex charges has been drastically reduced in Kenya thereby leading to reduction in the cost of electricity by almost nine per cent in the last one month.
According to the power distributor, Kenya Power, consumers are paying less for power now than in November which it says was reflected in December bills. Consumers are however not in agreement with this; with some saying they have not experienced the reduction.
Contrary to what is obtainable in Nigeria, the price of fuel as well as forex charges has been drastically reduced in Kenya thereby leading to reduction in the cost of electricity by almost nine per cent in the last one month.
According to the power distributor, Kenya Power, consumers are paying less for power now than in November which it says was reflected in December bills. Consumers are however not in agreement with this; with some saying they have not experienced the reduction.
Kenya power Managing Director Joseph Njoroge had said there was some drop on the fuel cost charges and the forex adjustment charge of the bills from November to December. The fuel cost charges went down from Sh 9.03 to Sh 8.50 per unit while the forex charge went down from Sh 2.62 to Shs1.49. "For a customer who consumed a 100 units in November their bill would be Sh1,849.65, while they would pay Sh1682.65 for the same units in December,"said the company's Communication official ,Gregory Ngahu.
The reduction was also reflected on the Kenya National bureau of Statistics figures released last week .According to the December inflation data, Electricity costs decreased by 9.90 during the month "As a result of reduced fuel and forex adjustment charges, the cost of consuming 50 units of electricity for example went down from Sh 819 in November to Sh 736 in December 2011,"said KNBS report. Power bills had surged in the months before November on the back of rising fuel prices and a weakening shilling.
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Earlier the power generator, KenGen had said consumers might continue enjoying reduced power prices as it was producing normally with adequate water after the short rains. However some consumers on the pre-paid meters said they had not noticed any increase in the units purchased with their money . Kenya Power says this may take a longer time to notice. "For prepaid accounts, the tariff is the same, However, when comparing the costs, you would need to compare the whole month charges and not a one-off purchase because the tariff is graduated"said the Ngahu.
That means, every charge is determined based on the amount of units that you have used in the course of the particular month. "for example if at the beginning of the month of November you bought 100 units on prepaid, the cost change with the same difference as 100 units at the beginning of December," he said. A consumer lobby group is currently pushing a bill to require the energy regulator to get the Parliament's nod before adjusting electricity tariffs in a bid to protect users from escalating prices.
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