Kenyan Members of Parliament (MPs) have instructed the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) to implement higher charges for consumers, which will lead to increased electricity bills. MPs argued that higher costs would help Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) recover billions of shillings spent on rural electrification projects. According to the National Assembly Committee on Energy, EPRA should implement pass-through expenses through the monthly bills starting in July 2026 to assist Kenya Power in recouping the billions it spends on constructing and maintaining the rural electricity grid. Kenya Power is expected to get reimbursement from the Treasury for grid costs in rural areas where energy consumption is insufficient to generate returns for the listed company. However, as of June 2024, the outstanding bill totalled KSh 29.9 billion, and it is expected to increase as the state enhances connections in rural areas. Why MPs want EPRA to increase electricity bills
According to Kenya Power’s disclosures, rural households paid an average of KSh 217 per month, which is almost a quarter of the national average of KSh 830.27. This situation has made it more difficult for the firm to recover its investment in the rural electrification projects. In light of the Treasury’s failure to swiftly clear the billions of shillings, the committee now wants EPRA to compel customers to pay the debt in their monthly electricity bills. “After this report is adopted, EPRA will assess the pass-through expenses within six months to implement a recovery mechanism for the operational deficits for RES (rural electrification projects). The base tariff will then take this into account during the next tariff control period,” MPs stated, as reported by Business Daily. Kenya Power engineers at work.
This was one of the conditions for the MPs to lift the suspension on new power purchase agreements. Kenyans will have to pay more for electricity as a result of this pass-through cost, which will be included in the base tariff (the price of a unit of electricity) and raise the base rate per kilowatt-hour. The new base rates, which will take effect in July 2026 for three years, will be gazetted by the regulator. What is the fuel cost charge? TUKO.co.ke previously reported that EPRA raised the fuel cost charge as Kenya continues to rely heavily on expensive thermal power plants. The energy regulator increased the Fuel Cost Charge (FCC) for power consumed in September from KSh 2.99 to KSh 3.60 per unit. In the six months ending in June 2025, thermal power plants accounted for 11.05% of the country’s power consumption.
By Japhet Ruto
