This month, you are going to be posted a higher Power Bill.  All prices for electrical energy will be subjected to a foreign exchange fluctuation adjustment of plus 144 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for all September 2012 meter readings. This will also be in addition to a fuel cost charge of plus 599 cents per kWh for all meter readings taken during the same month. This will follow the effect of a gazette notice No. 12856, dated 14th September 2012. This therefore means is that this month, all domestic and industrial consumers of electricity should expect bigger bills than before due to this adjustments.

Fuel Cost Charge fluctuates depending on the amount of fuel used to generate electricity. The rise and fall in international oil prices also bears an impact on the Fuel Cost Charge, because it translates to buying expensive fuel to generate electricity, an additional expense which is transferred to you the consumer.

[caption id="attachment_20533" align="alignnone" width="620"] Kenya Power Electricity Bill Indicating the parts of your own bill that will change[/caption]

On your electricity bill, Kenya power charges are covered by the Fixed Charge and Consumption Charge. The Fixed Charge currently is KES 120 on every electricity bill. The Consumption Charge is basically generated from your electricity consumption within a billing period. The more electricity units you consume, the higher your consumption charge will be.

As it currently stands, electricity units cost as follows:

• Each unit from 0 to 50 units costs KES 2.00 per kWh
• Additional units from 50 to 1,500 units cost KES 8.10 per kWh
• Consumption above 1,500 units cost KES 18.75 per kWh