Electricity prices to drop by 20pc, says Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto greets residents of Garsen after laying a foundation stone for the construction of Garsen Technical Training Institute on Sunday. He said electricity prices are set to go down by about 20 per cent from next month.

What you need to know:

  • The Deputy President told businesspeople in Malindi Town that Kenya Power was using new technology to lay out infrastructure, which had made work easier, quicker and cheaper.
  • The Deputy President said plans to produce an additional 5,000 megawatts of electricity by 2017 are on course. 
  • The DP launched various projects among them a mango processing factory worth Sh600 million, which is a joint investment between the government and Organic Growers and Packers.

Electricity prices are set to go down by about 20 per cent from next month, Deputy President William Ruto has said.

He said customers would pay less following the addition of 280 megawatts of electricity.

“We expect customers’ bills to reflect this by end of September because we are adding more power to the national grid,” he said.

About 140mw has already been injected and, according to Mr Ruto, come the end of the year, the government will reduce the cost of electricity by 30 per cent to reduce the cash for production and spur economic growth.

The Deputy President said that energy should be affordable as it was a key component of the economy.

“Electricity is important for the business community. By December, bills will go down. Lowering the cost of energy will enable our industries to produce goods cheaply.”

NEW TECHNOLOGY

The Deputy President told businesspeople in Malindi Town that Kenya Power was using new technology to lay out infrastructure, which had made work easier, quicker and cheaper.

“The new technology used to fix poles and cabling has increased the quantity of electricity in homes and industries and reduced wastage,” he said.

Mr Ruto said that the government was determined to light up the whole country, which would create jobs for the youth.

The Deputy President said plans to produce an additional 5,000 megawatts of electricity by 2017 are on course. 

He said county governments had a major role to play in facilitating this by accelerating development at the grassroots level.

The DP launched various projects among them a mango processing factory worth Sh600 million, which is a joint investment between the government and Organic Growers and Packers.

The factory will produce mango and banana juice for export.

Mr Ruto also launched two technical institutes in Garsen and Hola.