'Updating token meters is free, no change in unit costs': Kenya Power boss Siror clarifies

Kenya Power Managing Director and CEO Dr. Eng. Joseph Siror has dismissed claims that the new plan to have prepaid customers update their token meters by August is aimed at increasing charges.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s ‘JKLive’ show on Wednesday night, Eng. Siror clarified that the new power plan will be free and that no costs will be increased for customers.

He went ahead to explain that the update is in line with the company’s transition policy which aligns with the ongoing global update of all prepaid meters that use the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) to ensure the security of generated tokens.

“We have a total of 9.6 million meters; out of these, 7.4 million are prepaid and these are the ones going to be affected. The 2.2 million who are using postpaid will not be affected in any way,” he said.

“It is absolutely free and does not change the cost per unit because there was a talk that possibly this is a scheme and that the units are going to be less. That is not true.”

He said that, in order to undertake the update, customers will receive two codes via SMS from Kenya Power when they purchase electricity tokens at different times depending on the region a person is on the company’s mapping grind.

Eng. Siror explained that the entire country, which has 7.4 million prepaid customers, will be zoned out, adding that the company will notify everyone when time is due for the update.

“For each of those using pre-paid meters, we have zoned the entire country, the entire 7.4 million and when it comes to your turn to update your meters, they will receive two keys, one to reset your meter and the next one is to update your meter,” he noted.

He assured the public that the process would be seamless and that no technical support would be required in inputting the two codes, further cautioning customers against fraudsters masquerading as Kenya Power officials seeking to assist them.

The Kenya Power boss further advised customers to load any previously purchased tokens before updating their meters.

“You don’t need anyone to assist you. If anybody had bought tokens prior to that and you had not loaded them into your pre-paid meter, you will be required to load them first, then upon receiving the two codes, input the first one and then input the second one and it will update your meter,” he noted.