An analysis of power bills by the Star based on data from Kenya Power and Stima Tracker shows people at the bottom of the economic pyramid spending 0-30 kilowatts of power per month are now paying Sh27 per unit up from Sh22.45 in December.
The power distributor is attributing this to the weak shilling, which has seen the forex charge on power bill more than double in just a month to Sh6.46 from Sh3.17 in December.
The shilling has been depreciating against major international currencies for the past year, hitting a new record low of 163.50 units yesterday (Wednesday).
The Kenyan currency has shed at least 23 per cent in value in the past 12 months.
Last year, Kenya Power reported a net loss of Sh3.2 billion, a reversal of Sh3.3 billion profit reported in the previous financial year.
The utility firm cited higher finance costs caused by the depreciating shilling as the reason for the loss.
An 89 percent jump in financing costs to Sh24 billion from Sh12. 7 billion hurt its bottom line, despite a 12 percent rise in operating profit to Sh19. 2 billion
The cost of power for lower consumers has been rising in the past five years from a flat rate of Sh15.15 in a tariff review introduced by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) now Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in July 2018.
In just a year, the unit cost for 'Wanjiku' has risen by close to Sh10, adding to the high cost of fuel and food, amid declining revenue due to high taxes.
It is no wonder that the consumer price index, a measure of the price of goods and services purchased or otherwise acquired by households reached a record high of 137.55 points in December 2023, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The country's CPI has averaged 45.34 points since 1984.
This means that for Sh300, low-power consumers are getting close to just 10 units down from 20 units in 2018 and 14 units in December last year.
Jane Wahu, a fruit vendor along Garden Estate Road in Nairobi says that she used to spend Sh400 on electricity per month in 2018, a cost that has risen significantly to an average of Sh950.
''The cost of power is just out of this world. Nowadays, Sh200 worth of electricity tokens cannot last 10 days. My family cannot enjoy hot showers anymore,'' Wahu said.
Jeremy Kinuthia who operates a welding workshop next to Wahu's shop has resorted to the use of batteries to evade high electricity costs.
"I bought these batteries to help me cut costs and avoid occasional power outages. This country needs to liberalise distribution power to end the Kenya Power monopoly that is hurting us,'' Kinuthia said.
The middle class is not spared either.
According to the data, consumers spending 30 to 100 units per month are now forced to pay Sh31.97 per unit of electricity up from Sh28.17 in December.
This means, for Sh1,000, the user gets only 31 units, which barely lasts for 15 days as Ken Oketch, a real estate valuer at a local real estate told the Star.
"I now spend close to Sh2,500 every month on electricity, up from an average of Sh1,000 in 2018. This month, I've already spent Sh3,000 and I doubt if those units will take me to Sunday,'' Oketch said.
Manufacturers are not spared either as they are now paying an average of Sh36.81 per unit of power compared to Sh33.01 less than four weeks ago.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has protested the high cost of power saying, it will roll back the gains made when the cost of power was cut by 15 percent in 2021, adding that it will make Kenya’s manufacturing sector uncompetitive.
According to the lobby's chairman Rajan Shah, the country has one of the highest electricity tariffs compared to other key African exporting countries, currently at an average of $0.16 (Sh 20.02) per kilowatt-hour.
Taxes alone make up close to 50 percent of the power bill in the country, with fuel FX charges taking close to three percent.
Others are Fuel Energy Cost, inflation adjustment, Water Levy (Warma, Value Added Tax (currently at 16 percent) and Rural Electrification Programme (REP) Levy among others.
The state is planning to raise the cost further in a proposed law tabled in Parliament two months ago.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah proposed The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill of 2023 in Parliament seeking to amend the Energy Act of 2019.
The Bill seeks to double the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) levy to a maximum of 1% percent from the current ceiling of 0.5%. Consumers are currently paying a levy of 0.25% on petroleum products and 0.08% per unit of electricity consumed.
This is likely to increase the cost of electricity by close to 30 percent, pushing the cost of units for ordinary consumers to close to Sh30, Sh40 for the middle class and Sh45 for large-scale consumers.
