Reasons Your Electricity Bill Could Decrease Soon

To lower energy costs in the country, the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Energy has proposed an amendment to the Energy Act, 2019.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), established under the Energy Act, 2019, is tasked with regulating the electric power, renewable energy, coal, and petroleum sectors in Kenya.

In response to a motion presented by Laikipia Woman Representative Jane Kagiri, the committee suggested allowing consumers, labor unions, industry experts, and other energy stakeholders to nominate representatives to the EPRA board.

The proposal also suggests that the leadership of EPRA may change, allowing private sector stakeholders to have seats on the board, which is the key decision-making body of the energy regulator.

The goal of including these stakeholder groups on EPRA’s board is to ensure their input is considered in decisions, particularly those involving electricity pricing.

Currently, the EPRA board includes a chairperson appointed by the President, the principal secretaries for Energy, Petroleum, and the National Treasury, and a member of the county executive committee responsible for energy and petroleum, or a representative nominated by the Council of Governors.

If the amendment, led by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, is approved, the EPRA board’s structure would resemble that of Ghana’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), which has nine members, including a chairman and an executive secretary, as well as representatives from labor, industry, and domestic consumers, plus four sector experts.

Musyoka emphasized that EPRA’s board should include industry players, drawing inspiration from Ghana’s PURC model.

The key objective of this recommendation is to reduce the sector’s monopoly, which has contributed to the high electricity costs for consumers.

If the amendment is approved, it would also reflect changes made last year to the Kenya Power board, backed by the World Bank, that allowed private shareholders to have a say in the utility’s decision-making.

When the motion was introduced, Members of Parliament supported it, noting that the high cost of electricity has caused some investors to relocate to other countries, including within East Africa, and has discouraged new foreign investments in Kenya.