Kenya Power inflating electricity bills by up to 20%, Auditor-General
Auditor-General reveals how Kenya Power inflates electricity bills with consumers paying for the power they did not use
Auditor-General reveals how Kenya Power inflates electricity bills with consumers paying for the power they did not use.
According to the Auditor-General, Kenya Power has been inflating electricity bills, which has resulted in consumers being billed by up to 20% for power they did not use.
The Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu made a startling admission during the hearing of a parliamentary committee, stating that a forensic review of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution revealed that bills do not correspond to actual consumption and that additional fees imposed on customers by the utility are not traceable 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,” Ms Gathungu said.
The inconsistency has not been adequately explained by Kenya Power or the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
The audit discovered that the system losses were incorrectly calculated, which is blamed on the use of out-of-date study reports, incomplete simulations, and arithmetical errors.
Ms. Gathungu, who was represented by her deputy Stanley Mwangi, informed the National Assembly Committee on Energy, which was looking into the high cost of electricity in the nation, that cases of check meters being missing, having problems, or having discrepancies with the main meters had led to consumers receiving bills that did not match the readings on their meters.
According to the auditor, out of 96 generation plants supplying power to Kenya Power, only 38 had check meters. More shocking is that all 38 meters were off-the-grid power stations.
The auditor general also told MPs that Kenya Power had no capacity to counter-check the invoices presented by the independent power producers (IPPs).
“There was a lack of primary access to the key indices which limited the ability of IPPs and KPLC to independently verify the authenticity of prices in the invoices where such indices were applied,” Ms Gathungu said.
“The risk from lack of access to these key indices means KPLC is limited in its oversight role of ensuring the submitted invoices were correct.”
The audit identified system losses by Kenya Power as adding the greatest cost burden to consumers.
The audit pointed out that in the past three financial years, there has been a high percentage of system losses compared to that which is approved by both Epra and Kenya Power.
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In the financial year 2019/2020, the approved efficiency loss was 19 percent but Kenya Power recorded 23.47 percent efficiency loss.
In 2020/2021, the approved system loss was 19 percent but the recorded loss was 23.98 percent. In 2021/2022, the system loss was 22.44 percent against the approved efficiency loss of 19 percent.
For each loss that surpasses the approved loss of 19 percent, the extra cost is passed to consumers in their power bills.
“Although the management indicates that they have been working to reduce the power losses, there is no evidence of efforts and achievements made along the improvement of these recoveries. Charging of losses impacts on the cost of electricity,” Ms Gathungu told MPs.
The committee chairman, Vincent Musyoka, said the startling revelations by the Auditor-General confirm fears Kenyans have been having about exaggerated power bills.
“The data by the Auditor-General are scary and capture the fears of this committee and Kenyans have been having all along,” Mr. Musyoka said.
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