This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
Published on October 25, 2019, Kenya Power has been under scrutiny for its billing practices, with some customers receiving exorbitant bills.
Appearing before the Senate Energy Committee, Kenya Power's acting General Manager Business Strategy, Thagishu Kiiru, failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the inflated billings.
Committee Chairman Ephraim Maina (Nyeri) questioned the company's billing system, citing a case where a customer living in a one-bedroom house received a Ksh. 1,000 bill in one month, only to have it erratically rise to Ksh. 12,000 the next month.
“Why should this happen when this customer could probably just be using electricity for lighting and powering the radio?” Mr Maina asked.
Energy Chief Administrative Secretary Simon Kachapin, who accompanied Mr Kiiru, acknowledged that there have been instances where customers received incorrect bills.
“These are the challenges we are facing and we are working on resolving them,” Mr Kachapin said. “Not all bills are faulty though.” He added that 90 per cent of post-paid customers receive actual readings.
Nominated Senator Mary Seneta called on Kenya Power to provide a satisfactory explanation to absolve itself of blame.
