Kenya Power, the state-owned electricity utility responsible for the transmission and distribution network in Kenya, has declared a forthcoming reduction of up to 13.7% in electricity bills effective May 2024. This adjustment follows a notable decline in the cost of fuel used for electricity generation and the appreciating value of the Kenyan shilling.
The drop in electricity costs is mostly due to a significant reduction in both the fuel cost charge and the foreign currency fluctuation adjustment, both of which are critical components of the overall electricity bill. Specifically, between March and April 2024, these variable components had a 37.3 percent drop, indicating a considerable increase in consumer affordability.
For instance, the fuel cost fee, which was Sh4.64 in March 2024, has now dropped to Sh3.26 in April 2024, a significant decrease from the peak of Sh4.93 in January 2024. Similarly, the FX adjustment price has dropped significantly, from Sh3.68 in March 2024 to Sh1.96 in April 2024, down from a peak of Sh6.85 in January 2024.
Consequently, the price for a customer in the Domestic Customer 1 (DC1) tariff band using 30 kWh/month will fall by 13.7%, from KES729 (US$5.53 or US$18.5c/kWh) in March 2024 to KES629/kWh (US$4.78 or US$15.9c/kWh) in April 2024.
Further, the price for a client on the Domestic Customer 3 (DC3) tariff who consumes 120 kWh per month would decrease by 9.7%, from KES4,127/kWh (US$31.3 or US$26.1c/kWh) in March to KES3,728 (US$28.3 or US$23.6c/kWh) in April 2024.
Overall, the significant fall of electricity bills is good news for Kenyan customers, providing much-needed assistance in the face of current economic woes.
Source: Energy Ghana