Kenya Power goes for smart meters to lock out power cartels

Tuesday evening the power supplier, KPLC announced an invitation to qualified bidders to supply Smart Meters that will be the new face in Kenyan households.

The Joseph Siror-led power lead parastatal has in the past months been embroiled in legal tussles in meter tendering that derailed the ambicious Smart Meter project.

In a document signed by Dr John Ngenoh, General Manager Supply Chain at Kenya Power and seen by Citizen Digital, the electricity supplier invited bidders to "supply of single phase and Three Phase Smart Meters".

To enforce President William Ruto's Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), Kenya Power has restricted the Smart Meters to "Local Meter Manufacturers and Assemblers".

The move by Kenya Power comes amid power cartels that have been siphoning tokens and defrauding the power supplier of its reimbursable.

It is anticipated that Kenya Power intends to procure over 200,000 pieces of Smart Meters that will be installed by January 2024.

The project is estimated to cost Ksh.1.6 billion based on dolar volatility and forex escalation.

Appearing before the National Assembly's Energy Committee on Tuesday, Kenya Power CEO and MD Joseph Siror lamented before the committee over the proposed budget cuts that will derail the last mile connectivity that seeks to ensure every Kenyan household is connected to the power grid.

"We have seen the proposed budget cuts and there are more than 10% of our budget," said Siror.

Kenya Power in the proposed budget cuts will lose Ksh.4.9 billion on last mile connectivity alone.