Power is now restored in several parts of country – KPLC

Kenya Power says it has restored electricity supply to parts of Western Kenya, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi after hours of outage occassioned by system disturbance.

Kenya Power said restoration in other parts of the country that also experienced outages is in progress.

“We thank our customers for their patience as we work towards full restoration of normal service,” Kenya Power said in a statement.

In Nairobi, the utility firm said power had been restored in Eastlands, Westlands, Industrial Area and the Central Business District.

In a public notice issued Thursday evening at 6.30pm, Kenya Power said most parts of the country suffered power outage following a system disturbance on the grid.

The company said this resulted in power supply disruption in most parts of the country.

"We regret any inconvenience caused and urge for patience from our customers as we work towards restoring normal power supply at the earliest opportunity," the notice said.

"We will issue an update on the progress of the power restoration exercise within two hours."

On Monday, Kenya Power defended itself from conclusions from a section of Kenyans that the company ‘huanua stima’ (‘remove electricity from the cloth line) whenever it rains.

The company said the unplanned outages that occur whenever it rains are sparked off by strong winds that usually accompany heavy rains.

The strong winds, the company said, sway trees causing branches to touch and occasionally fall on power lines.

“This triggers a circuit breaker leading to power outage,” Kenya Power said.

A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which an equipment can safely carry (overcurrent).

Its basic function is to interrupt current flow to protect equipment and to prevent fire.

The company did not, however, disclose whether this was what occassioned the system disturbance leading to the widespread power outage.