City street lights tariffs drop by 60pc, residents say domestic costs still high
A street light. The Energy Regulatory Commission Sunday announced the reduction of the street lighting tariff to Sh4.96 per unit from Sh11.25, a drop of 60 per cent. City residents however say they are yet to see any changes in their domestic electricity costs. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- ERC Sunday announced the reduction of the street lighting tariff to Sh4.96 per unit from the gazetted Sh11.25, a drop of 60 per cent.
- But citizens are not celebrating the change as many say they are yet to feel the reduction in power bills.
- Mr Ng’ang’a said the fuel cost charge for geothermal generation has dropped by 61 per cent.
- He said a 400kV transmission line between Nairobi and Mombasa was near completion and would be commissioned in 2015.
The electricity bill for Nairobi City County street lighting has been slashed by more than half, even as residents say their domestic costs are very high.
The Energy Regulatory Commission Sunday announced the reduction of the street lighting tariff to Sh4.96 per unit from the gazetted Sh11.25, a drop of 60 per cent.
The new rates will only be applicable between 6pm and 6am.
ERC Director-General Joseph Ng’ang’a said the reduction was in line with the government’s plans to make Nairobi a 24-hour economy.
“We will, however, not pay for inefficiency on the part of the county government.
"If they decide to keep the lights on before 6pm or past 6am, the normal rate of Sh11.25 will apply in the extra hours,” he said.
Mr Ng’ang’a added that tariffs would be gazetted this week.
CITIZENS NOT CELEBRATING
But citizens are not celebrating the change as many say they are yet to feel the reduction in power bills, months after the government predicted a drop by as much as 30 per cent.
Mr Ng’ang’a maintained that the retail price for electricity had dropped by as much as 26 per cent and the trajectory would continue.
“Of course, we did not hit the target of a 30 per cent drop but this was due to insufficient rains and delay in commissioning of geothermal power plants,” he said.
He said a 400kV transmission line between Nairobi and Mombasa was near completion and would be commissioned in 2015.
“It will now be possible to transfer power from Naivasha to Mombasa to displace diesel power plants at the coast,” he said.
Mr Ng’ang’a said the fuel cost charge for geothermal generation has dropped by 61 per cent but did not specify the cost of commissioning new geothermal plants.
On how much the running of these new plants will offset the reducing fuel cost charge, he said: “While additional plants will increase the base tariff, the fuel component is expected to reduce, thus resulting in an overall reduction in retail tariff.”
Another reason why electricity bills showed little change could be the fact that the 280 megawatts produced by Olkaria had not been fully connected to the national grid until recently.
The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) announced last week that the entire 280 megawatts had finally ben connected.
