Landlords will be responsible for paying the electricity bill for the consumption recorded via the single meter from Kenya Power in a new direction taken by the utility firm.
According to Business Daily on Friday, November 10, Kenya Power initiated plans to stop issuing multiple meters to apartments owned by a single person.
In new guidelines, the utility firm stated that applications for meter separation will also not be processed, although sub-metering would be allowed.
“Management has recently revised guidelines on metering new connection applications. Going forward, there will be a provision of one meter only per plot where a plot belongs to one owner with multiple premises,” said Kennedy Ogalo, acting general manager, of infrastructure development at Kenya Power, in a memo to regional managers as quoted by Business Daily.
The new strategy is expected to seal revenue leaks at the utility firm.
“This will imply that new applications from premises with multiple units like apartments, flats, and others, shall comprise only one meter. Therefore, meter separation applications will not be processed. Subsequent metering of the supplies will be sub-metering at the prerogative of the premises owners,” he added.
Kenya Power will however exempt plots with multiple owners such as housing estates sold to single customers and commercial buildings with independent owners.
Also large power tariff customers, government-related connections like affordable housing projects, and government-owned housing schemes, among others, will be exempted from its new guidelines on metering.
It is not clear when the new directive will take effect.
However, SonkoNews understands that the new measures are aimed at bringing the utility firm back to profitability.
The new direction started with changes in management and the transfer of some services for efficient service delivery.
According to business analysts, Kenya Power is also moving to win customers’ trust eroded by recent complaints over exorbitant token prices.
