EPRA denies approving Kenya Power tariff hike

The Energy Petroleum and Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has denied approving higher electricity prices by giving the nod to Kenya Power to raise its retail tariff.

This follows media reports which indicated the energy sector regulator had given the green light for the hike of electricity tariffs by at least 20 per cent.

“EPRA informs the public that the tariff application by Kenya Power is still under the authority’s review and no approvals have been granted,” noted EPRA Director General Pavel Oimeke in a statement issued on Thursday.

“Once the internal review on the tariff application has been completed, the authority will embark on stakeholder engagements and public hearings on the application before the final approval is granted.”

Kenya Power continues to wait out a response from the regulator as it seeks to raise electricity prices per unit of consumption to cover itself from losses.

The electricity distributor has remained in protest of lower electricity tariffs implemented by EPRA in November 2018 in response to widespread consumer complains over hefty monthly billings.

In its annual report covering the year to June 30, 2019, Kenya Power indicated it lost Ksh.4.8 billion from the reduction of the rate of consumer electricity tariffs.

Kenya Power is holding out for the approval of the higher tariffs to better revenues from electricity sales which have been dampened by higher operational costs.

The company has since issued a profit warning ahead of its release of its last year trading results to June 30, 2020 which have since been delayed to January 31, 2021 at the latest.

Kenya Power last reported a near profit wipe out as its earning fell by 91 per cent in the year to June 2019 to Ksh.262 million.

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EPRA KENYA POWER Pavel Oimeke

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