KPLC workers doing repairs, [Photo: Kplc.co.ke]
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company has refuted claims of soliciting funds from its consumers through fraudulent purchase of electricity schemes saying the information that is currently in the public discourse is intended to push a false narrative.
In a news dispatch this morning, the monopoly has distanced itself from the article published in a local daily indicating that consumers were footing bills that had been incurred as losses by KPLC.
In the statement, KPLC notes that it operates under the purview of the energy regulatory Authority saying that it does not determine the cost of electricity.
Nancy Gathungu stated a forensic examination of the production, transmission, and distribution of energy, revealed that invoices do not correspond to real use, and additional fees imposed on customers by the utility are not identifiable in the billing system.
“Almost 20 percent of the bill to consumers cannot be matched to actual consumption neither can the distribution company attribute it to a specific consumer,” Nancy Gathungu stated.
Kenya Power refuted these claims saying they are non-factual and are geared towards building a false narrative around the cost of electricity.
“Part of power system losses are inevitable during transmission and distribution of power; therefore, the regulator sets a threshold for the allowable system losses that is factored in the tariff. In the current financial year, the regulator has allowed system losses up to a maximum of 18.5%. Kenya Power meets the cost of system losses incurred above what is allowed,” read the statement in part.
While falsifying the article which said it got its findings from the auditor general following her appearance before the National assembly departmental committee of Energy, KPLC says all the 58 power suppliers are fitted with check meters unlike the 37 supplies as mentioned in the article.
The committee chairman, Vincent Musyoka, said the startling revelations by the Auditor-General confirm fears Kenyans have been having about exaggerated power bills.
The departmental committee embarked on investigations on KPLC to determine the cause of its loss making streak over the years that has led to the high cost of electricity.