Kenya Power Announces Power Interruptions in 2 Counties on Friday

Kenya Power has announced a scheduled power interruption set to affect parts of Nyeri and Meru counties on Friday, April 9.

In a notice on Thursday, April 9, the company said the outage will occur in Thamaru and Ngunguru areas from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The areas expected to be affected include Kahara Village, Karogoto Market, Kahiga Village, Thamaru Village, Ngunguru Secondary School, and Kiambachi Village. 

Others are Ngurumo Dispensary, Ngunguru Coffee Factory, Maingirano Village, as well as Safaricom and Airtel booster sites and adjacent customers.

In Meru County, electricity supply will be interrupted in Kiengu and Kiutini areas, affecting Nchiru, Kianjai, Ngundune, Akithi, Karumo, Maua Town, Kangeta, Kihutini, Kinaa, Igembe and Kiegoi tea factories, and Athi.

Baranga, Karama, Muthara, KWS Murera, Rhino Camp, Lare, Ruirii, Mutuati, Kiengu, Kandone, Kabachi, Thangareini, Tuuru, Kooju, Dituene, Mariri, Nyambene Girls, Muriri and surrounding areas will also be affected.

This comes weeks after Kenya Power issued a notice to customers across the country as it began rolling out a new electricity meter reading system.

In a notice on Tuesday, March 10, Kenya Power said the new technology would modernize how its teams captured meter readings, replacing the traditional manual process.

According to the company, the system worked by scanning the meter display rather than relying on staff to manually input numbers.

"Kenya Power has introduced an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system for electricity meter reading.

"The OCR system allows our teams to scan meter displays directly, instead of manually typing meter numbers and readings. This improves the accuracy and efficiency of billing, helping ensure customers receive correct bills," the notice read.

Kenya Power noted that some challenges had emerged during the early stages of the nationwide rollout, particularly when meter readers were unable to access meters located inside locked premises or secured boxes.

"As the system is being rolled out across the country, we have noted that locked premises and meter boxes are the main challenge affecting meter reading," the notice added.

Because of this, the company asked customers to cooperate with staff when they visited homes or business premises to take meter readings.

"Customers are therefore kindly requested to allow our staff access to meters within their premises, including opening meter boxes where necessary," the notice continued.

Kenya Power reassured customers about safety and verification procedures when staff visited their premises to take readings.

"For your safety, all Kenya Power staff visiting customer premises will carry official identification cards with their staff number and national ID details. Customers can also verify anyone claiming to be a Kenya Power employee by dialling *977# and selecting the Jua for Sure option," the notice concluded.