President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that the cost of electricity will reduce by 15 per cent, by the end of December.
Speaking during the Jamhuri day celebrations, Uhuru said the plan to reduce the cost of electricity by over 30 per cent is well on course.
The reduction, he said, will be implemented in two phases of 15 per cent each.
"In honour of this pledge to the nation, and in response to the concerns over the high cost of electricity raised by both individual consumers and enterprises, I am pleased to announce to the nation that the reduction of the cost of electricity will be implemented in two tranches of 15 per cent each; with the first 15 per cent achieved through initial actions focusing on system and commercial losses, to be reflected in the December bills, and a further 15 per cent reduction, in the first quarter of 2022," Uhuru said.
The president noted that the Ministry of Energy has already started engagements with Independent Power Producers aimed at renegotiating the initial power purchase agreements.
He called on the power producers to demonstrate goodwill.
The drop in price comes as the President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed steering committee moves to implement recommendations by the taskforce on review of Power Purchase Agreements.
The steering committee which is on a six-month tenure was expected to submit its first progress report to the President on or before December 5.
Uhuru had directed that the recommendations of the presidential taskforce be implemented on a priority basis.
Part of the recommendations were renegotiations and review of PPAs with power producers, where some have been selling electricity up to 35 times more than the cheapest generator—KenGen.
The taskforce had also called for cancellation, with immediate effect, of all unconcluded negotiations of PPAs and ensure future PPAs are aligned to the Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPDP).
