•Consumers of more than 180,000 KWh annually must conduct energy audits on their premises using EPRA licensed auditors every three years.
•Penalties for failure to comply with the regulations include a fine of Sh 1 million, one-year imprisonment for the facility head or both.
Large and medium industries have until December 31, to comply with new rules that require them to conduct energy use audits every three years.
The audits must be conducted using Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) approved auditors and the results filed with the regulator.
An energy audit is an inspection, survey and analysis of energy flows for energy conservation in a building, process or system to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output.
The regulator yesterday said about of 1,500 industries , out of the 3,000 targeted players in the country, have not complied with the law putting compliance level at 50 per cent.
The Energy (Energy Management) Regulations 2012 which came into place eight years ago targets consumers of more than 180,000 KWh annually.
The firms are also required to come up with energy policy statements and appoint designated energy managers and submit audit reports and implementation plans to the authority.
The audit aims at promoting conservation by efficient utilisation which ultimately reduces energy expense without compromising productivity.
“They have two months until January one (January 1) to make sure they are compliant. Why am saying this, it is because we have seen a bit of laxity. With expansion, we now have regional offices in various regions, my team will be going round confirming whether each and every applicable company has complied,” EPRA Director General Pavel Oimeke said yesterday.
He spoke in Nairobi when the authority awarded power producer IberaAfrica Power (EA) Limited and Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited, the energy management certificates.
Large power consumers, mainly in Nairobi and its surroundings, account for about 60 per cent of the country’s total electricity consumption.
According to EPRA, about Sh43 million is lost daily through inefficient electricity consumption equipment mainly by industries, commercial buildings, hotels and institutions such as universities and hospitals.
IberAfrica CEO Henry Muthanji yesterday said the firm has invested Sh55 million in energy management systems in the last three years, which has seen it save 3.3 Gigawatt hours(GWh), saving Sh57 million in energy consumption on its production processes.
“We have installed solar pv( Solar Photovoltaic) in our power production hall, reviewed our equipment and replaced those overtaken by time meaning we have invested in modern equipment. All these have helped us save a lot,” Muthanji said.
Penalties for failure to comply with the regulations are; a fine of Sh 1 million, one-year imprisonment for the facility head or both. The delay in submission of the implementation report will result in Sh30,000 fine per day.
“I am sending a clear warning to companies that have neglected or failed to comply to the regulation that they need to comply to regulations,” Oimeke said.