• Gathungu revealed shocking details of how KPLC has been inflating electricity bills. which has seen consumers overcharged for power they did not use.
• In addition, extra charges loaded on the consumers by the utility are not traceable in the billing system.
Image: /FILE
Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) has condemned Kenya Power for inflating high electricity bills on consumers as revealed by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
In a National Assembly Committee, Gathungu revealed shocking details of how KPLC has been inflating electricity bills which has seen consumers overcharged for power they did not use.
She said a forensic review of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity found that bills do not match actual consumption.
In addition, extra charges loaded on the consumers by the utility are not traceable in the billing system.
“Almost 20 percent of the bill to consumers cannot be matched to actual consumption neither can the distribution company attribute it to a specific consumer,” Gathungu said.
In a statement released on Monday, the federation said KPLC should not defend itself from the act adding that the development confirms the many complaints and fears from consumers raised daily on inflated bills.
“The damning revelation by the Auditor General that the monopoly power distributor, Kenya Power has been inflating bills of a maximum of 20 percent for what consumers do not use is a serious indictment that won't be competently defended by any excuses from any quarters,” reads the statement.
They called on KPLC to apologies on consumers and release an immediate plan on how Kenyans can recover from the high bills inflated for several years.
“We expect Kenya Power to make further confessions, unreservedly apologise to electricity consumers and publicise an immediate plan on consumers' recovery of the stated 20 percent plus interest as backdated to at least 10 years ago,” reads the statement.
“We have written to Kenya Power management requesting for their cooperation so as to avoid a situation in which they will spend further monies in courts purporting to defend what can't be defended.”
They further noted that KPLC often intimidates consumers by unwarranted disconnections even when bills are disputed.
Chairman of the committee Vincent Musyoka said the shocking revelations confirm fears Kenyans have been having about exaggerated power bills.
“The data by the Auditor-General are scary and capture the fears of this committee and Kenyans have been having all along,” Musyoka said.
However, Kenya Power managing director Joseph Siror said the losses experienced were unavoidable due to long power lines.
“The moment you move power from one point to another, there is definitely a loss of power. The longer the line, the higher the losses,” Siror said.
He assured the MPs that they are currently working with both KenGen and Ketraco on having shorter lines in order to reduce losses.
He said illegal connections were also contributing to high losses adding that they are doing everything both short term and long term to address concerns about the high cost of power.