Kenya Power Managing Director and CEO Joseph Siror during a press briefing to present the Company’s Operational Performance Report for Q2 FY 2023-2024 at Stima Plaza, Nairobi on February 20, 2024. PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU | NMG
Kenya Power’s newly installed 67,000 smart meters have helped to grow its annual sales by Sh347 million, the company has said, as it plans to roll out more of the type to maximise collections among small businesses.
The firm installed the meters to reduce commercial losses and operational costs.
The power company reported an annual sales increase of 17.47 gigawatts per hour (GWHrs) equivalent to Sh397 million.
“The company has successfully installed 67,000 smart meters targeting SMEs and the Meter Data Management Infrastructure. Smart meters provide real-time monitoring and remote reading, offering consumers the ability to effortlessly track and get a clear picture of their electricity consumption patterns,” said Kenya Power managing director Joseph Siror.
The company had set out to install smart metering for all large power customers by December 2024, domestic and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and customers consuming above 200 units on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) within the next three years.
In the year ended June 2022, the listed utility company planned the establishment of a central and five other regional meter data control centres and the installation of 67,000 smart meters in SME premises.
The AMI system is to help enhance the visibility and monitoring of the installed smart meters to protect revenue from large and medium customers, who contribute more than 80 percent of the company’s total electricity sales.
The power distributor posted a net loss of Sh3.19 billion in the year to June 2023 compared with a net profit of Sh3.26 billion a year earlier, with the primary driver of the performance being an 89 percent surge in finance costs to Sh24.15 billion from Sh12.76 billion.
This has seen the utility firm look to procure the services of an agency to help manage its increasing currency risks.
Kenya Power took a Sh23 billion hit for the period under review, blaming it mainly on forex pain when paying electricity suppliers and lenders in foreign currencies.
The State-owned power distributor blamed the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority for the Sh23 billion forex loss it incurred in the year ended June 2023 for using the Central Bank of Kenya’s foreign exchange rates instead of those quoted in actual market transactions.
