The National Assembly has demanded a comprehensive report from the Ministry of Energy on recent nationwide power outages.
In a letter to Principal Secretaries Alex Kamau Wachira (Energy) and Mohamed Liban (Petroleum), Clerk of the National Assembly Jeremiah Ndombi said the Departmental Committee on Energy wants to be appraised on the causes of recent power outages.
The letter to the two PSs was copied to Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir.
The two PSs are expected to present the report to the committee on December 18, 2023, at noon at the Mini-Chamber, County Hall.
“In light of the importance and the urgency of this matter, and while awaiting deliberations during the aforementioned meeting, the Committee requests that a preliminary report be submitted on the same by 5.00 pm on December 13, 2023, an electronic copy of which may be sent to the email address: [email protected],” the letter said.
According to the letter, the committee is seeking an explanation for the nationwide power outage that occurred on the night of August 24, November 11 and December 10, 2023.
Members of the committee are seeking information on action initiated by the Ministry of Energy to ensure that the country gets a reliable power supply given the impact of the outages on the economy.
They also want to be appraised on the status of investigations into the roles of various actors in the power generation, transmission and distribution chain in averting the situation, and the possibility of any acts of commission or omission on their part that may have caused the outages.
The Committee is also seeking an assurance to the nation that the ministry together with Kenya Power has put concrete measures in place to address the matter of frequent power outages in the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Chirchir attributed Sunday’s countrywide blackout to a transmission overload along the Kisumu-Muhoroni line in the western part of Kenya.
Chirchir indicated that the transmission line, which is designed to carry 80 megawatts, was under pressure from 149 megawatts, which resulted in an overload, causing the nationwide power outage.
He stated that the ministry is considering introducing load-shedding on major power lines as a temporary mitigation measure to avoid overloads.
