KAMAU: Electricity accessibility incomplete without affordability

Kenya Power's last-mile electrification programme has achieved one of the world's fastest connectivity rates in the last five years.

Indeed, Kenya’s power connectivity rate is one that is well documented and acknowledged. For instance, the Energy Progress Report for 2021 by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the World Bank and the World Health Organization have all appreciated Kenya’s achievement on this front.

As much as accessibility is important and is being lauded, even by international agencies, affordability endeavours must run in tandem with the fast pace of connectivity, especially in many parts of rural Kenya where the majority of the poor live. Only through affordable electricity can the real gains of rural electrification be realised.

Notwithstanding the fact that the rapid pace of electrification has today seen more than 70 per cent of Kenyan households having access to electricity, its usage in rural Kenya is still limited to rudimentary but key functions of lighting and charging phones.

The cost of power remains high and continues to dismay consumers and confound logic, considering that the country’s electricity generation mix accounting for 90 per cent of our electricity is generated from renewable energy sources with geothermal leading the way at 47 per cent of electricity to the national grid. Hydro energy comes in second with a load of 32 per cent, while wind energy is third with a load of 11 per cent.

Given that only 10 per cent of Kenya's power is generated using nonrenewable energy, singly driven by thermal power like diesel, it defeats logic as to why the cost of power remains high in a country that is clearly leading the charge for renewable energy in Africa and around the world.

It is for this reason that we all laud the recent initiative by the government to institute operational reforms at Kenya Power. These reforms are geared towards ensuring that the reduction in operational cost of the power distributor translates directly to the reduction of electricity tariff in Kenya by 33 per cent.

The 33 per cent reduction is a recommendation by the task force appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to review the Power Purchase Agreements between Kenya Power and Independent Power Producers to curb the ever-rising electricity cost. The idea was to have the reduction effected by Christmas. This would be the best Christmas gift to Kenyans with a direct impact on their pockets if it were to be achieved.

That aside, a significant reduction of power tariff will have wider ramifications in the economic sphere, especially within the manufacturing sector where electricity accounts for a significant proportion of the cost of production.

A lower power tariff will not only see a spike in domestic power consumption in rural areas but will further spur the growth of cottage industries and small enterprises that are dependent on electricity.

With improved rural economies, citizens with more disposable income will be able to afford additional home appliances whose net effect would be to increase electricity consumption.

A key driver in electricity consumption in rural Kenya is likely to be the demand for hot water showers powered by instant heaters. Although hot showers are much desired in rural areas, not many people can afford to instal and operate them. They largely remain a preserve of the urban dwellers. Nonetheless, availability of piped water to every rural home stands in the way of every citizen enjoying a hot shower.

A final gaze at the horizon further reveals that after the hot shower, the TV set as a big screen will be the second or third most desired home appliance in newly connected rural households. The digitally connected age we live in is a dead giveaway for this prediction.

The fact that your phone is already a small TV screen, the desire and aspiration to migrate to a bigger screen with better user experience is real, provided one can afford it. In a nutshell, all these additional appliances can only drive up electricity consumption.

CEO at Telo. [email protected]