The annual energy sector statistics released by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) on Thursday reveal that total system losses—comprising both technical and commercial losses—accounted for 23.47 percent of the energy purchased. This average exceeds the benchmark of 18.5 percent set by the authority for the financial year 2023/24.
As a result, for every 100 units of electricity that Kenya Power purchased from producers in the year leading up to June 2023, only 77 units were sold to consumers. The financial losses stemming from the disparity between the allowed benchmark losses and the actual losses are absorbed by the utility company.
Technical losses, which occur naturally, primarily consist of power dissipation in components of the electricity system, such as transmission and distribution lines, transformers, and measurement systems.
Last year, the utility firm told journalists that the higher losses during the last financial year were due to a mix of factors that included delays in the implementation of loss reduction strategies, owing to tender wars for the supply of critical materials such as meters and transformers.
Other factors, Kenya Power said, included an expanded grid and customer base without a corresponding increase in resources as well as higher instances of theft by consumers.
While some of the losses are borne by Kenya Power, it recovers the larger portion of 19.5 per cent from consumers. The higher losses are despite a current restructuring of the company expected to reduce system losses to 14.4 per cent. System loss contributes is denying customers lower electricity bills, an issue that the current Kenya Power boss John Siror, when taking over in May last year vowed to resolve.
“To address the high losses, Kenya is implementing initiatives such as transformer metering, feeder metering, smart meters, and smart grids,’’ Siror told journalists. Smart grids can help seal revenue leaks through smart metering technologies and two-way metering that bring in checks in meter bypass and tampering, illegal connections, and the issue of energy balances.
“Through efforts to prioritise the expansion and modernisation of the grid, Kenya will be able to reduce its system losses by a percentage annually
