No break for Kenyans as electricity bills go up in new ERC charges

Kenyans who consume 100 units are now paying Ksh.381 more in their electricity bills compared to last month.

A spot check by Citizen TV found that heavy electricity consumers are the ones unaffected by the new charges after their power bills came down.

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At the end of last month, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced that fixed electricity charges of Ksh.150 would be scrapped.

The move was allegedly aimed at reducing electricity bills for Kenyans and it saw the families who use less than 10 units of power benefit alongside bulk power consumers.

However, the middle class Kenyans consuming 11-684 units were hit hard by the new charges. Below is a breakdown of the new tariffs on Kenyans’ electricity bills:

10 Units- Ksh.176

Energy charge- Ksh.120

Total adjustment fee- Ksh.26

Levies- Ksh.7

VAT (16%) – Ksh.23

Of the 176 shillings 5percent will go to Rural Electrification and another 3 cents to ERC levy.

100 Units- Ksh. 2219

Energy charge- Ksh.1580

Total adjustment fee- Ksh.260

Levies- Ksh.80

VAT- Ksh.294

500 Units- Ksh.11,095

Energy charge- Ksh.7900

Total adjustment fee- Ksh 1300

Levies- Ksh.423

VAT- Ksh.1472

2000 Units-Ksh. 44,380

Energy charge- Ksh.31,600

Total adjustment fee- Ksh.5,200

Levies-Ksh. 1692

VAT- Ksh. 5,888.

The taxes, levies and adjustments on electricity bills are said to be directed towards funding various government projects and programs.