Utility firm Kenya Power is making plans to start issuing US dollar-based power bills. This comes after the company posted a multi-billion loss that it has attributed to the weakening local currency.
The new plan will start with mega power users. Kenya Power General Manager in charge of Finance Stephen Vikiru has told a local media house that the new proposed model could potentially be implemented for large customers, such as exporters.
The company has previously attempted to issue US dollar-based bills in vain. It’s last effort was thwarted by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
In the full year ended June 2023, Kenya Power announced a Sh. 3.19 billion full year net loss. This was a huge crash from the Sh. 3.26 billion net loss the company posted in the previous full year.
Kenya Power blamed the huge loss on currency fluctuation and the high cost of power purchase. This came as the Kenya shilling continues to depreciate against the US dollar and Euro, the currencies in which most of the power purchase agreements Kenya Power signed into are made. The shilling is currently at an all time low of Sh. 150 to the US dollar.
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“The positive performance above was eroded by exceptionally high finance costs which increased significantly by 89 per cent from Sh.12.76 billion to Sh. 24.15 billion mainly driven by the depreciation of the Kenya shilling against major international currencies,” Kenya Power said in a statement.
“In the period, the Kenya Shilling depreciated by 19 per cent from Sh. 118 per USD in June 2022 to Sh.140 per USD in June 2023.”
