Kenyans will see higher electricity costs this month after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority set new adjustments that add about Sh4.70 to every unit used.
The changes apply to meter readings taken in August and come from three separate charges that make up the total.
The biggest part is the fuel energy cost charge of Sh3.51 per unit. This reflects the actual cost of fuel used to generate power in July, when the country produced and bought roughly 1.376 billion units of electricity. Diesel, thermal and other plants, plus some imports, all fed into the calculation.
Next comes a foreign exchange fluctuation adjustment of about Sh1.18 per unit. This covers gains and losses linked to the dollar costs that power producers and Kenya Power face when buying fuel or settling contracts.
A small Water Resource Management Authority levy of 1.5 cents per unit completes the package.Taken together, the three items come to just over Sh4.70 for each kilowatt-hour.
A household that uses 100 units will therefore pay roughly Sh470 extra from these adjustments alone. That figure sits on top of the normal base tariff, taxes and other fixed charges that already appear on the bill. Larger users will feel a bigger impact in proportion to how much power they consume.
These monthly adjustments are not new. EPRA reviews fuel and foreign exchange costs every month and passes the real expenses through to consumers under the existing tariff schedule. The latest figures simply show that generation costs in July pushed the total higher than in some previous months.
The regulator published the notices in the Kenya Gazette on 14 August, giving clear notice of what will apply for August readings.For many families the extra amount will show up either as a higher postpaid bill or as fewer units received when buying a prepaid token.
Businesses that rely heavily on electricity will also notice the difference in their operating costs. While the rise is limited to the variable charges and does not change the underlying base rates, it still adds pressure at a time when many households are watching every shilling.
The adjustments remain temporary and will be recalculated again next month based on August generation data. Until then, the Sh4.70 figure is the clear addition that consumers can expect on their August electricity use.
