The ERC Acting director-general Frederick Nyang’. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
ERC asks City Hall to cancel depot and outlet licences over suspicion of involvement in malpractices.
The ERC has also shone the spotlight on 75 cooking gas retail outlets for contravening safety provisions of the Energy Act 2006.
City Hall has, however, rejected ERC’s directive, saying it can only suspend the licences after being furnished with enough evidence.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) wants City Hall to suspend licences of more than 84 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) depots and retail outlets over suspicion of involvement in malpractices that expose consumers to danger.
Acting director-general Frederick Nyang’ asked City Hall officials in a letter dated March 3 to curtail their operations to curb accidents at home.
“The ERC hereby requests that you suspend licences to the illegal LPG plants and the non-compliant LPG retail sites since they pose a grave risk to public safety,” said Mr Nyang’.
The letter addressed to Nairobi County chief licensing officer Peter Kinyanjui and copied to Energy PS Joseph Njoroge adds: “Please note that the list of illegal LPG plants may not be exhaustive….”
The affected distributors include Capital Gas Kenya Ltd and Priscillah Ndulu Ndele, both located off-Mombasa Road, and the Gee Gas depot and Sungas Ltd in Embakasi.
Budgetarian Enterprises, Triple General Store, Stewell Supermarket, Nyage Consumer Store and Wajoy Gas Pump in Umoja also featured in the list that also includes Jacknice Supermarket, Clean Gas, Xtra Cooking Gas and Paga Mali Mali in Pipeline Estate.
Others are Lunga Lunga Gas Depot, Richwell General Merchants (off-North Airport Road), Syzo International (Mombasa Road), Soham Service Station (Mlolongo) and City Gas depot on Shimo la Tewa Road.
The ERC has also shone the spotlight on 75 cooking gas retail outlets for contravening safety provisions of the Energy Act 2006.
The demand followed a joint study of premises in Nairobi that the commission conducted recently with Cyprus-based SGS, an inspection, testing and certification firm.
The ERC says the study revealed non-compliance to energy standards after officials found filled cylinders without seals or supply documents.
City Hall has, however, rejected ERC’s directive, saying it can only suspend the licences after being furnished with enough evidence.
Trade executive Anna Othoro on Monday said that the energy regulator did not keep its end of the bargain in providing a list of compliant LPG dealers and another of illegal dealers as well as the evidence against them.
“I saw the letter with the list. But ERC has not met our requirement that they first furnish us with a list showing the dealers who have met the standards and those who have not, and why they have not,” Ms Othoro said.
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