Kenya Power seeks to increase e-cooking users to 500,000

Kenya Power CEO Dr. (Eng.) Joseph Siror now says the power distributor is publicly endorsing the adoption of electric cooking (e-cooking) within its customer base of 9.2 million, with the aim of boosting the number of users from the current 90,000 to well over 500,00 in the next three years.

Siror made the announcement during the launch of the Global eCooking Coalition (GeCCo) which was unveiled at the just-concluded Africa Climate Summit (ACS).

GeCCO is a global initiative aimed at expediting the shift from conventional cooking methods to e-cooking, both domestically and commercially.

As it stands, only 1% of electricity customers use the service to cook, with the majority of Kenyans primarily relying on wood fuel and gas.

“Electricity has traditionally been viewed as the expensive cooking alternative by many Kenyans. Middle-class households often own task-specific electric cooking appliances such as kettles or microwaves but rely on liquefied petroleum gas for the bulk of their cooking,” Siror said.

“However, this is no longer the case as recent studies have shown. There is, therefore, an enormous untapped potential for e-cooking in the country. Kenya Power will work with partners to drive the uptake of e-cooking across the country."

Siror added that Kenya Power has partnered with several other organisations including the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS), the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), and the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya (CCAK) to champion e-cooking in Makueni, Kitui, Nakuru, Kakamega, and Kisumu counties.

The power distributor has also set up demonstration centres in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Mombasa to advance the e-cooking agenda nationally.