The Energy Regulatory Commission has indicated that cooking gas will be cheaper from August this year. Speaking at a media briefing ERC Director General Kaburu Mwirichia said that Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices were expected to drop upon completion of the storage facility in Mombasa.

In an earlier announcement, ERC said it was contemplating  regulation of Liquid Petroleum Gas(LPG) prices after the handling and storage facility under construction in Mombasa is complete. Mwirichia attributes the shooting up of gas prices at certain periods to lack of sufficient storage space for the essential commodity. The commission expects that with sufficient supplies of gas, there will be no need for central regulation as it would encourage competition for the benefit of consumers.

The commission projected that the move would result to the drop of gas prices by up to 50%. ERC’s decision not to regulate gas prices has been informed by the ongoing construction of the Mombasa storage facility which according to Mwirichia will enable the government to import huge volumes of cooking gas.

“We will now be able to get big cargo of LPG and have enough space for storage. We will import around 8000 metric tonnes instead of less than 2000 tonnes currently,”Mwirichia said.

Upcountry gas supplies will be boosted by the new LPG re-filling and storage facility being developed in Kisumu to support the overwhelmed facility in Eldoret. This will ensure frequent shortages that cause price fluctuations in the North Rift and Western regions are eliminated.