Kenya Power’s General Manager for Commercial Services and Sales, Eng. Rosemary Oduor, recently shed light on the company’s occasional use of bill estimations for consumer electricity bills.
During an episode of Citizen TV’s ‘The Big Conversation’ show, Eng. Oduor responded to inquiries regarding the fluctuation in monthly bills.
Wycliff Omiti, Programs Manager at the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (KARA), raised concerns about instances where consumers receive significantly different bills from one month to the next.
Eng. Oduor acknowledged the practice of bill estimation, explaining that it occurs when accurate meter readings cannot be obtained from consumers’ premises.
This could be due to various reasons, including consumers denying access to their meters, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
“Bill estimation is usually a last resort when we’re unable to get a reading from the client.
Some of the reasons that make us not get readings is denial of access to the premise; sometimes intentionally, many times not intentionally,” she stated.
Eng. Oduor highlighted the company’s efforts to address this issue, including initiatives such as self-reading and the development of smart meter systems.
These solutions aim to empower consumers to take meter readings themselves and submit them to Kenya Power when prompted, or to implement smart meters that transmit readings digitally, facilitating accurate billing without the need for estimations.
“We have introduced self-reading; you register as a self-reader, when your reading is due, we give you an SMS prompt, you take a reading of your meter and send it to us and we’re able to do the billing based on that,” she explained.
In the long term, the implementation of smart meters will enhance communication between consumers and Kenya Power, ensuring more accurate billing based on actual readings.
Eng. Oduor emphasized the importance of consumer cooperation in providing access to meter readers, enabling the company to obtain accurate readings and deliver more precise bills.
As Kenya Power continues to explore innovative solutions, the goal remains to improve transparency and efficiency in billing processes, ultimately benefitting consumers across the country.
