Under the new meter rule, landlords are now in charge of paying their tenants’ electrical bills.
In a significant change, Kenya Power has stopped providing several meters for housing unit blocks held by a single customer. Instead, the owners of properties linked to the power system are now responsible for ensuring payment for electricity utilized.
The utility said that while sub-metering would remain permitted, applications for meter separation would no longer be accepted as part of a new plan to plug revenue breaches caused by unauthorized connections.
The management has updated the policies regarding the metering of new connection applications.
In the future, when a plot is owned by a single person and has numerous locations, there will only be one meter available per plot, as stated in a message to regional managers by Kennedy Ogalo, acting general manager of Kenya Power’s infrastructure development division.
This suggests that future applications from locations with several units, such as apartments, flats, and the like, should only include one meter.
Thus, applications for meter separation will not be handled. The owners of the properties will have the discretion to determine whether to submeter the supplies after they are metering them, he added.
The main meter supplies power to a sub-meter, which enables building owners to monitor energy use at specific units.
According to Mr Ogalo, the cost of the power used, as documented by the Kenya Power single meter, would be borne by the proprietors of the properties.
However, new applications on plots with numerous owners, such as independent owners of housing estates, flats, and commercial structures, are excluded from the new requirements.
Kenya Power stated that the new metering requirements do not apply to major power tariff consumers, government-owned housing schemes, or government-related connections such as affordable housing initiatives.
Meter separation from groups that are excluded will be permitted, Mr. Ogalo continued.
Kenya Power has implemented several process controls at every level, from the application procedure for grid connection to the actual metering to enforcing the new regulations.
When many residences, such as flats and apartments, are present on the premises to be linked to the electricity grid, only one supply would be provided per application.
“During the design phase, the suggested network will account for the expected energy consumption from several locations and combine them into a single account.
“Wayleave permission, wiring certificate filing, and customer account contracting are still requirements throughout the building phase.
Mr. Ogalo declared, “The plan will be implemented exactly as intended.”
Rules governing net metering
According to insiders, the new metering laws aim to limit income leakage caused by unauthorized connections and boost the effectiveness of power bill payments.
People possessing numerous meters have caused a great deal of chaos. The difficulties of obtaining payments for the electrical units utilized and preventing illicit connections followed.
“Having one meter under one name would make it easier to enforce compliance,” the insider stated.
Kenya Power has faced difficulties connecting consumers, in part because of meter shortages brought on by protracted legal disputes over tenders.
After running out of meters, the company revealed last month that roughly 300,000 consumers are still waiting to be connected to the energy grid.
Thousands of customers looking to replace their broken or stolen meters with new ones have been disappointed by the acute lack of meters.
This has an impact on homes, companies, and certain essential establishments like schools and medical centres.
Last month, the company reported that 236,924 new connections were still pending, but when new meters are purchased, electricity will be connected to them in 90 days.