Govt to reduce cost of power tariff to Ksh.9 per kilowatt

The government has announced a reduction in the costs of power paid by manufacturers in the country.

In a deal reached between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) at State House Nairobi, manufacturers will now pay 9 U.S. cents or Ksh.9 per kilowatt of electricity.

This will be a decrease from the 16 U.S. cents or Ksh.16 paid previously.

As a result, the government has challenged the sector to rev up production to push its contribution to economic growth by at least 15 per cent by 2022.

“ What we need to address to ourselves to more than just salaries is productivity and thats the way we should start moving the language…we have no intention of oppressing our people,” President Kenyatta said.

On his part, Energy CS Charles Keter also announced the government’s decision not to licence any thermal power plant or renew the licence of stations whose contracts are coming to an end in a move to sustain the low electricity tariffs.

“As we reduce the cost of power, does it go to the mwananchi? Even if today we say nine cents will it come down to the consumer?” he posed.

In this regard, CS Keter indicated that plans to plug the gap that will be left by the thermal power producers who are exiting the scene include the 310 MW from Turkana Wind plant, 400 MW of hydro power from Ethiopia and 55 MW from Garissa solar plant being put on the national grid.

The power tariff reduction is also expected to translate to cheaper locally manufactured goods.