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How Kenya Power will pay homes, firms for blackouts
A waiter at Hadassah Bites near Globe Roundabout in Nairobi, Kenya, receives a customer order on September 6, 2024, after a power outage that hit most parts of the country.
Electricity consumers will receive compensation equivalent to 75 percent of their average daily consumption for extended blackouts in a new push to compel Kenya Power to improve the reliability of its supply.
The payouts for power outages will be capped at Sh550,559.85, as stated in the Draft Energy (Electricity Reliability, Quality of Supply and Service) Regulations, 2025.
Consumers will also be compensated for erratic power supply and delays in restoring electricity after scheduled maintenance.
For delays in restoring power after scheduled maintenance, the utility will pay consumers 1.5 times their average daily consumption, capped at Sh734,079.80.
Prepaid customers will capped at Sh734,079.80. Prepaid customers will receive free tokens from Kenya Power, while those on postpaid will see their bills netted off as compensation.
Compensation for blackouts for small domestic or users of less than 30 units a month will be capped at Sh2.92 and homes consuming between 30 and 100 units will be paid a maximum of Sh37.50.
Large consumers that receive power at 66 kilovolts (kV) like factories will have their compensation capped at Sh550,559.85.
Compensation for reconnection delays during planned outages will be capped at Sh3.75 for the small domestic users and Sh1,570.65 for consumers using between 100 and 15,000 units a month. Those getting power at 66 Kv will have their compensation capped at Sh734,079.80 for reconnection stays.
In 2015, the government rejected a Bill that required Kenya Power to compensate businesses whose power is cut off for more than three hours within a day.
The current regulations, which are before public participation, do not indicate the hours spent in blackout before the compensation kicks in.
Currently, Kenya Power offers compensation for injuries or damaged equipment such as TVs, computers and fridges, but does not pay customers for financial losses resulting from being plunged into blackouts.
“The licensee may elect to make payment for compensation in the form of credit on the next monthly bill for customers who receive a bill or prepaid electricity token,” say the regulations published by Epra.
Kenya seeks to adopt the model in most European countries that demand utilities compensate users whose homes and businesses are cut off from power for prolonged periods.
For years, Kenyan businesses have complained that power outages due to its ageing grid and unreliable supplies make them uncompetitive and hurt growth.
Kenya Power says blackouts have eased in recent years as the utility increased the connection of new transformers to the national grid.
A strong shilling and increased electricity sales have recently improved Kenya Power’s fortunes as the firm reaped big from more connections on the back of increased availability of materials such as meters and transformers.
Under the draft regulations, customers are also to be compensated for damage to the property, financial losses for businesses, bodily harm or death attributed to the blackouts, erratic supply or failure to restore electricity supply within the scheduled time.
Consumers will be required to provide invoices of the value of the damaged property or valuation reports, while in the case of bodily harm, they will have to show valid medical reports and treatment notes. The compensation claims must be filed within a year of the breaches, with the reparation and the token reward settled within 90 days after Epra approves the claim.
The compensation will come as a cost to Kenya Power and private firms that will be licensed to sell electricity.
Kenya Power hit 10.06 million customers in the year ended June 2025.
The firm’s net profit jumped 30 times to Sh9.97 billion in the six months to December 2024 from Sh319 million made in the same period a year earlier. Kenya Power has attributed most of blackouts to vandalism of the transmission network and aging lines that lack the capacity to accommodate sudden surges in electricity loads.
But consumers will not be compensated if the blackout or unsteady supply is caused by force majeure, interference by third parties like road works or trees that fall outside the wayleave area, illegal activities like vandalism or electrical fault on the consumer’s side beyond the metering point.
Kenya Power and the other private sellers of electricity will be required to keep a record of the compensated claims for at least seven years from the date of the reporting.
Parliament has in the past shot down efforts to have Kenya Power compensate consumers for losses tied to blackouts and erratic electricity supply, with the most recent being in 2015.
The rejection of the compensation push was aimed at protecting Kenya Power at a time the firm grappled with financial losses tied to vandalism and high default rate by prepaid customers.
Costly electricity has prompted some big consumers to pursue their own power generation, dealing a blow to Kenya Power’s efforts to drive sales.
Big consumers such as Africa Logistics Properties, Mombasa International Airport and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology recently commissioned their solar power generation plants.
East African Breweries Plc earlier announced plans for biomass plants to power its plants ahead of fully delinking from Kenya Power by 2030.
Besides the big consumers, wealthy homes are also setting up solar plants as an alternative source of energy.
