Demand for electricity exceeds the 1,800 MW mark

Kenya's peak power demand surpbaded 1,800 megawatts (MW) last month as a result of increased consumption by a handful of large consumers. MW at the beginning of the year – a growth of 2% over the semester.

The increase was mainly attributed to the introduction last December by the State of reduced electricity tariffs for peak demand of 1,802 MW against total installed capacity of the country of 2 351 MW leaves the country a reserve margin of 549 MW, according to the ERC

The reserve power often takes care of emergency situations as when several plants are withdrawn from the national network during maintenance work or unforeseen breakdowns.

But demand growth has only been fueled by a few large users since majority consumers have very low consumption levels. The energy regulator says that monthly electricity bills of 3.6 million households, or more than half of Kenya Power's customers, are 30 shillings or 10 shillings a day

. Low homes use 15 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity or less each month. which means that the majority of them use electricity to charge their phones and light up a few rooms. They are probably not connected to household appliances such as refrigerators, televisions, stoves and microwaves.

Commercial customers, including businesses and factories, have only 348,459 customers, or 5% of the total of 6.5 million customers. . Of the commercial consumers, only 6,000 of them consume more than 15,000 units per month and account for 60% of Kenya Power 's electricity revenues.

Millions of homes have recently been connected to the power grid as part of a government subsidy program. last mile connectivity project intended to accelerate electrification. This increased Kenya Power's customer base from about two million in 2013 to 6.5 million. Most are in remote areas and slums with low levels of consumption.