CONSUMERS SET TO PAY MORE!

Electricity consumers buying low units of up to 10Kwh will from tomorrow pay less at the expense of those whose consumption goes beyond this. In the new tariffs announced yesterday, the Energy Regulatory Com- mission has scrapped the monthly fixed fee that will see low end users benefit from a 82 per cent reduction. The cost has however been loaded as extra charges for those who consume beyond 11kwh within a billing period.

Energy Regulatory Commission Director General said that the government has scrapped the monthly fixed charge of Sh150 for low cost consumers whose number is an estimated 3.6 million. ‘’The Domestic Consumer Life- line Tariff, which is meant to cushion low income households whose consumption does not exceed 10 units per billing period, will reduce by between 36 to 82 percent,’ the director said. According to new rates, customers who purchase up to 10 units will be charged Sh12 per unit, meaning they will pay Sh120 in addition to levies of up to Sh25.50, bringing the total to Sh145.50

They have been paying a fixed charge of Sh150 per month before buying each unit at Sh2.50 and Sh60 in levies, bringing the cost of 10Kwh to Sh235. ERC further lowered Fuel Cost Charge from Sh4.60 per Kwh to Sh2.50, forex charge to Sh0.05 from Sh1.22 and inflation fee from Sh0.52 to Sh0.05. It did not change other levies including Water Resource Management Authority WARMA) and ERC fees.

On the other side, the majority of Kenyans who use an average of 50Kwh of power per month will pay more than double, inflicting more pain to households which are struggling with high cost of living. In the previous tariff regime, customers have been paying up to Sh500 for 50 units of electricity. This includes Sh100 at Sh2.50 per unit, fixed charge of Sh150 and up to Sh250 in levies.

However, with new tariffs, each unit will cost Sh15.80 hence 50Kwh will cost Sh790 plus Sh125 in fuel cost fee and other levies, bringing the total to at least Sh930. This is Sh430 more compared to previous tariff.
According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), an average household use at least 50 units of electricity per month. However, ERC has cut the lifeline tariff consumption units to 10kWh, locking out almost every household. ‘’To meet the social policy objective, the lifeline tariff consumption units have been reduced from 50kWh per billing to 10kWh to address the needs of the low income households in the society.

Commercial and industrial customers are winners in the revised power tariff. Power cost for this segment will reduce by 4.4 percent on average. This is in addition to the 50 percent discount during off peak hours and weekend as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Kenya Power acting managing director Jared Othieno said implementation will commence with end of month bills for post paid customers and tomorrow for pre- paid ones.