Kenya Power is adamant that the government should approve its proposed hike in electricity tariffs this April to meet increasing costs.

The utility firm has proposed to increase tariffs from the current Ksh 10 per unit for the first 100 units to Ksh 14 per unit for the first 30 units then Ksh 21.68 per unit for more than 30 units monthly.

Kenya Power says it plans to introduce off-peak tariff between 10pm and 6am, where domestic customers will be charged at a half price of Ksh 10.54 cents per unit, which is still 54 cents per unit higher than the current rate.

Large businesses and manufacturers who operate during off-peak hours between 10pm-6am have been enjoying a discounted power tariff, of half the rate they pay during peak hours.

Kenya Power says the time of use tariff will from April this year be extended to SMEs and domestic customers who use more than 30 units monthly, if the proposed electricity tariff hike is adopted.

This means electricity use between 10PM and 6am will cost you 54 cents more per unit, as compared to the current rate, which Kenya Power says is a 106pc discount for domestic customers using more than 30 units monthly.

Kenya Power Acting Managing Director Geoffrey Muli says out of the 9 million customers connected to the national grid, 6.3 million customers are under the domestic lifeline of which 3.5 million customers use less than 100 units monthly.

He says the peak demand now stands at 2,149 megawatts against an available capacity of 2,235 MW, which has drastically reduced the headroom to just 86MW.

This represents 4% against a recommended reserve capacity of 15% of the total available capacity, to take care of the planned or unplanned switch off of power plants for maintenance, repair and other factors.

EPRA will on Tuesday hold public participation forums on the proposed electricity tariff hike.