- Date
- 20th February 2023
- Categories
- General
On Wednesday 8th of February 2023, Dr Jon Leary Senior Research Associate at MECS and Director of Gamos East Africa joined other shareholders/participants at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) for a stakeholder consultation Workshop on Kenya Power & Lighting Company’s (KPLC) application for retail tariff review.
The retail tariff review was convened by Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) as part of the public consultation process that are mandated to carry out before approving any proposed tariffs from KPLC.
The workshop was attended by Kenya Power, EPRA, ELCOS, ARC Ride, Ampersand, Birco Africa, CoG, Consumer Grassroots Association, REREC, Tatu City, NEEMA, IEK (Institution of Engineers of Kenya), BasiGo, National Construction Authority, KETRACO, BidCo Africa, Members of the public, and Legal associates.
Kenya Power as a buyer and retailer of electricity operates the national grid to become the energy solutions provider of choice. To achieve this broad mandate, there is a need for an electricity retail tariff that is just and reasonable to allow KPLC to maintain its financial integrity, attract capital, operate efficiently, and compensate investors for the risks assumed. The retail tariff review sought to:
- Ensure efficient resource allocation within the Economy.
- Ensure short-term and long-term financial sustainability of sector utilities.
- Re-allocate costs amongst electricity consumers to safeguard vulnerable consumer groups.
Retail Tariff Application background information and Rationale
The existing retail tariffs were approved for application in July 2018 for one year (1st July 2018-30th June 2019). They were revised in January 2022 to allow for a 15% reduction in the end-user tariffs. The revised retail tariffs were applicable up to December 2022. The rationale of this Retail Tariff Review is to incorporate changes in the Electricity Sub-sector cost structure and update key assumptions to provide adequate sector revenue requirements.
On Monday 20th of February 2023, the MECS Kenya team together with KPLC and the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya (CCAK), convened a community of practice (CoP) dialogue, focusing on the new tariff proposed by EPRA, the potential impacts of the proposed increase, and the opportunities stakeholders could explore with KPLC for the development of a dedicated eCooking tariff. The input from stakeholders will then be consolidated and submitted to EPRA for review and consideration before the deadline on 21st of February 2023.
Featured Image: Stakeholder Consultation Workshops on KPLC Retail Tariff Application. Photo credit Dr Jon Leary (Gamos East Africa), (2023).