Kenya Power will unveil a platform that allows the sharing of electricity tokens under an innovative platform that seeks to offer pre-paid consumers more options in utilising power.
Acting Managing Director of the power utility, Geoffrey Muli told Business Daily that the company has given the go-ahead to the company developing the application, setting the stage for its piloting in the coming days.
Numeral IOT, a city-based tech firm, is developing the application that will for the first offer consumers an opportunity to share utility tokens joining other products like data and airtime.
The application will be a big win for tenants who lose out on electricity tokens when they shift houses and it will also be a game-changer given that it will allow consumers to share electricity with friends and relatives.
“We (Kenya Power) visited the factory and yes it is a practical solution. He (developer) is doing the modelling and is still at the innovation stage. Once he is done then we will pilot it,” Mr Muli said on Thursday.
Mr Muli spoke at the inaugural innovation forum drawing participation from Kenya Power, tech firms and manufacturers as the energy sector seeks to tap the latest solutions to scale up use of electricity.
Morris Mbetsa, founder of Numeral IOT said that the application will be a game-changer to Kenya’s electricity consumption by offering pre-paid customers more options.
“If we can share data, then why not tokens? This application will enable you to share with someone who doesn’t have. Also, let us say you have 100 tokens in your meter and you are shifting houses, then you go with your tokens,” Mr Mbetsa said.
Kenya Power is banking on increased use of technology to increase sales and also cut down on losses incurred through illegal electricity connections.
The State-owned power utility has also rolled out smart meters for businesses offering Kenya Power ability to monitor connections in real-time.
Kenya Power posted an eight percent growth in sales following the installation of 67,000 smart meters in the year ended June. An additional 75,000 smart meters for small businesses are targeted for the current financial year.
