Thursday, January 19, 2023 – The National Treasury has fumbled to explain why the prices of KPLC tokens have skyrocketed under President William Ruto’s administration.
According to the Draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u attributed high electricity prices to old transmission lines.
He exposed how outdated equipment at KPLC compelled consumers to buy electricity tokens at hiked prices.
Besides the transmission lines, the Treasury indicated that aging distribution lines and transformers contributed to expensive electricity.
The policy statement further blamed frequent power blackouts on the old and unreliable KPLC equipment.
“While generation capacity and total electricity connections have increased considerably in recent years, electricity in the country remains expensive and unreliable,” the draft policy statement read in part.
“One of the key contributors to both the cost and quality of power is the aging transmission and distribution network,” it added.
The expose came amidst national blackouts and complaints over substandard equipment, which resulted in various accidents.
However, Ruto’s administration pledged to revamp KPLC’s infrastructure to protect consumers from high power costs.
Besides revamping the KPLC lines, Ruto announced plans to end the power monopoly by accelerating geothermal resources development; and developing Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) storage facility in Mombasa.
To protect KPLC from losses, the government also announced plans to compel the utility firm to publish system and financial reports quarterly.
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