How Kenya Power steals from you: Shocking report presented to MPs shows that you end up paying upto 20% extra
It has been sensationally discovered that Kenya Power has been manipulating electricity bills so that customers wind up paying 20% extra for power they did NOT use.
The Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has made a startling admission in front 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 ANYWHERE in the billing system.
MPs were also that Kenya Power had no capacity to counter-check the invoices presented by the independent power producers (IPPs).
The audit discovered that the system losses were incorrectly calculated, which is blamed on the use of out-of-date study reports, incomplete simulations, and arithmetical errors.
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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.
Only 38 of the 96 generation plants that supplied Kenya Power with electricity had check meters, according to the auditor. The fact that all 38 meters were off-the-grid power plants is even more surprising and very suspicious.
Mrs Gathungu said in her report that 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. The indices are critical and need to be applied for verification. What this means is that KPLC is unable to play its' oversight role of ensuring that the invoices are correct.
According to the study, Kenya Power's system losses are what put the most financial strain on consumers.
Ms. Gathungu drew attention to the fact that, in contrast to what Epra and Kenya Power both endorse, a large percentage of system losses have occurred during the last three fiscal years.
The audit determined that Kenya Power's system losses were the biggest contributor to consumer cost burden.
Ms. Gathungu emphasized that compared to what Epra and Kenya Power both allow, there has been a high percentage of system losses over the last three fiscal years.
The permitted efficiency loss for the 2019–2020 fiscal year was 19%, while Kenya Power actually had a 23.47% efficiency loss.
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The approved system loss for 2020–2021 was 19%, whereas the actual loss was 23.98%. The system loss in 2021/2022 was 22.44 percent as opposed to the permitted efficiency loss of 19 percent.
The additional expense is promptly passed on to consumers in the form of higher electricity bills for any loss that exceeds the permitted loss of 19 percent.
"Despite the management's claims that they have been making attempts to reduce power losses, there is no proof of any efforts or successes made in order to improve these recoveries. The cost of electricity is affected by charging for losses, Ms. Gathungu told the MPs.
The shocking revelations by the Auditor-General, according to committee chairman Vincent Musyoka, corroborate Kenyans' concerns about excessive power bills.
The figures provided by the Auditor-General are alarming and reflect the worries that this committee and Kenyans have long held, according to Mr. Musyoka.
He emphasized that even though there are anticipated losses in the transmission of power, Kenya Power and the power provider should split them.
According to Kenya Power managing director Joseph Siror, losses in the transmission of power from the point of generation to the user are unavoidable.
"There is unquestionably a loss of power when electricity is transferred from one point to another. The losses increase as the line length increases, according to Dr. Siror.
He informed the lawmakers that in order to cut losses, they are now collaborating with KenGen and Ketraco to create shorter lines.
According to Dr. Siror, Kenya Power's significant losses were also a result of the illicit connections.
SEE ALSO: How Thika bank heist of millions was inspired by GOK get-rich-quick corruption
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