Kenya Power To End Postpaid Meters In Rural Areas, Consumers To Shift To Paying Tokens

• Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) aims to minimise power theft and reduce meter reading expenses by shifting consumers to pre-paid meters
• The electricity distributor noted that all consumers in rural areas will have to transition to using smart meters in the long term
• KPLC recorded a KSh 3.2 billion net loss for the full year ended June 2023, attributed to the weakening shilling and the high power purchase cost

TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto brings over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has announced that all its customers in rural areas who currently use postpaid meters will need to transition to the prepaid option within the next three years.

The move is part of a broader initiative to minimise power theft and reduce meter reading expenses.

In its annual report for the year ended June 2023, KPLC noted that all consumers in rural areas will have to transition to using smart meters in the long term.

"All rural customers will be on the prepaid metering system and will be transitioned to smart metering in the long term. Further, existing postpaid meters in rural areas will be retrofitted to prepaid meters over the next three years," KPLC stated.

Why Kenya Power recorded a loss

The electricity distributor generated KSh 120.18 billion from postpaid customers, accounting for 63% of the total revenue.

KPLC recorded a KSh 3.2 billion net loss for the full year ended June 2023.

It attributed the loss to the weakening shilling and the high power purchase cost from electricity producers.

The monopoly electricity distributor cited the challenging macroeconomic environment in its audited financial results.

"Power purchase costs increased during the year from KSh 117.35 billion to KSh 143.58 billion due to a rise in units purchased from 11,815GWh to 12,425GWh to meet the growing demand for electricity."

How many customers will KPLC connect?

Kenya Power aims to connect over 320,000 new customers in three months.

KPLC unveiled an initiative targeting to clear its connection backlog, which currently stands at 236,924.

Kenyans have been raising concerns over the utility firm services, a move that saw the MPs recommend ending its monopoly.

The utility firm's managing director, Joseph Siror,attributed the delays in the connection to protracted court battles stopping the procurement of meters and other materials.