Kenya Power has rolled out a metering project to benefit 55,000 customers in the small and medium enterprise sector across the country.
The Sh1.25 billion World Bank-funded programme is part of the Kenya Electricity Modernisation Project and is expected to be completed by June 30 this year.
Smart meters are part of an advanced metering infrastructure that facilitates two-way communication between the company and the customers.
Group CEO Benard Ngugi said, "Going forward we are focused on ensuring that we automate our meters and make sure that they are read/controlled remotely."
He said the smart meter platform gives customers access to real-time information on their consumption patterns and billing.
"These combined benefits of error-free data, prompt network problem identification and audit of energy consumption will go a long way in enhancing service delivery to our customers in the SME sector."
Eng Cleophas Ogutu said in case of an outage, smart meters will be communicating directly with the company's national contact centre to facilitate immediate resolution.
Smart meter will also send a notification to the customer via SMS.
Kenya National of Chambers of Commerce Kisumu chapter chairman Israel Agina said Western Kenya has been experiencing power outages, which greatly hurt businesses.
But the CEO assured him that this will be a problem of the past because the line between Olkaria-Lessos source terminating at Kisumu has been completed by Ketraco to stabilise the power supply.