The year is off to a positive start as you should expect a marginal drop in your electricity bills this month following Kenya Power latest review of the Fuel Cost Charge and the Forex adjustment rate in electricity bills.
Electricity consumers will this month be required to pay KES 4.98 per kilowatt hour in fuel cost levy, down from KES 5.35 per kilowatt hours in December 2012. The Forex Adjustment rate has increased to KES 1.59 per unit from KES 1.35 per unit in December 2012.
The fuel cost is determined by the amount of diesel-electricity on the national grid which mainly rises due to fall in the amount of hydro-generated electricity, while the Forex element reflects the strength of the shilling against major currencies.
Despite rise in the Fuel Adjustment rate, the net effect will be a marginal drop in electricity bills as demonstrated below. The demonstration takes into assumption that 18 units of electricity were consumed in both months, i.e. December 2012 and January 2013.
This reflects a 1.09 percent drop in electricity bills in January 2013.