Kenya Power

Kenya Power offices in Nairobi.

| File | Nation Media Group

How drought has piled pressure on power bills

What you need to know:

  • Government directive for cheaper electricity remains a mirage.
  • Kenya forced to increase uptake of expensive thermal energy to meet demand.

Severe drought in most parts of the country for months on end last year, forced the government to increase uptake of expensive thermal electricity by more than half the normal levels.

Data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that subsequent low water levels in hydropower dams occasioned by thinning rivers, saw a 23.3 per cent reduction in output.

Hydropower is one of the cheapest sources of electricity that is fed to the grid alongside geothermal power.
Kenya Power bought 4,142 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of hydropower from producers nearly all of which is generated by KenGen, and 5,032GWh from geothermal sources.

This, as the electricity and water supply sector recorded an accelerated growth of 4.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2021 compared to a marginal growth of 0.2 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2020 driven by higher power and water demand following reopening of the economy.

“Total electricity generated increased by 6.0 per cent from 2,918.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in the third quarter of 2020 to 3,094.7 million kWh in the third quarter of 2021,” said KNBS.

“The increase in electricity generation was notable from all sources except hydro. Electricity generated from hydro declined by 23.3 per cent owing to insufficient rains during the period under review,” it said.

With a gaping hole left by generation shortage of cheap hydropower, the state was forced to increase uptake of expensive thermal power by 53.8 per cent, while it also increased uptake of wind power by 43.6 per cent in the quarter.

But thermal power, generated by burning of heavy fuel oil to turn turbines, is the most expensive source with the burden getting heavier for consumers whenever there is a surge in global fuel prices.

To underline the burden of this power source, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) last month raised the fuel cost charge (FCC) component of electricity bills by Sh0.42 to Sh4.63 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the highest since June 2018 when it reached Sh4.75.

The component is adjusted monthly in line with change in fuel prices.