Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror has cautioned of increased electricity costs should county governments charge them for wayleaves.
Speaking during a meeting with the Kenya Editors Guild on Tuesday, March 4, Siror noted that they would be forced to pay Ksh63.8 billion to the counties should the governors impose the charges.
Consequently, he added that Kenyans would be forced to bear the burden of the extra costs. As detailed by the MD, the costs of power could increase by 30 per cent if they are charged for the wayleaves.
Already, the Nairobi County Government demanded that Kenya Power pay for the wayleaves in their recent tiff.
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"Kenya Power has over 319,000 kilometres of power lines across all 47 counties. The introduction of wayleaves on power lines will impact retail tariffs. Under the proposal to charge wayleaves on electricity infrastructure at a cost of Ksh200 per meter, this translates into Ksh63.8 billion per year.
"This is approximately 30% of the energy sector's revenue requirements, which must be recovered from the monthly electricity bills. The overall impact is that electricity will become unaffordable to a majority of Kenyans," he explained.
On the other hand, he maintained that the move to charge for the wayleaves was illegal as it was contrary to the law.
He cited section 223 of the Energy Act 2019, which prohibits any public entities from charging levies on public energy infrastructure without regulatory approval.
Meanwhile, he announced that electricity sots had reduced in recent months owing to the stabilization of the shilling, which has seen a reduction of pass through charges which include forex and fuel costs.
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