EXPLAINER: What determines your electricity bill

The electricity bill, Kenya Power says, is determined by the electricity usage and other charges that include tax and levies, which the firm collects on behalf of the Government Agencies.

"The bill comprises Kenya power charges, which are the electricity consumption within the billing period. One unit is equivalent to one kilowatt hour. A kilowatt hour is equal to 1,000 watts of power used for one hour," the firm said.

 KPLC said it uses part of this money to procure bulk power from electricity-generating companies, which it retails to its consumers.

The bill, according to the utility firm, also contains taxes and third-party levies, which include fuel cost charges.

Kenya Power says the money is collected by KPLC and passed on directly to electricity-generating companies, who, in turn, pay fuel suppliers.

However, the company says the money does not constitute any income to KPLC.

The fuel charge is related to international fuel prices as well as the quantity of oil used for the generation of thermal power.

In the taxes and third-party levies, there is also a forex adjustment, which is the foreign exchange component related to the fluctuation of hard currencies against the Kenyan Shilling for expenditure related to the power sector (e.g., project loan repayments).

There is also a levy that goes to the Water Resource Management Authority (WARMA), which caters for the water used by hydro power plants that have a capacity equal to or above 1MW as approved by the commission.

In addition, Kenya Power says there is the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) levy that goes to the regulatory arm of the energy sector.

The levy is currently set at 3 cents per kilowatt hour.

The Rural Electrification Authority (REA) levy is also paid for the implementation of rural electrification projects.

The amount paid is 5% of the cost of the units consumed.

The last levy is a statutory levy, Value Added Tax (VAT), which amounts to 16% of the total bill, is passed on to the Kenya Revenue Authority.

All those are the determinants of the amount that a user will pay as the final electricity bill.