Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has begun implementing nationwide electricity rationing as the country grapples with an acute power shortage. President William Ruto confirmed that electricity demand has surpassed available supply, forcing Kenya Power to switch off certain areas between 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm daily.
Speaking at the United Nations Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar, Ruto admitted that the move was necessary to prevent grid overloads and wider blackouts. “We simply don’t have enough power at the moment. To keep the system stable, we have to turn off electricity in some areas to supply others,” he said.
The growing energy deficit has also deepened Kenya’s dependence on imports from neighbouring countries, particularly Ethiopia. Electricity imports from Ethiopia have soared from 337 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2022 to 1.53 billion kWh by June 2025, accounting for 10.6% of the 14.38 billion units purchased by Kenya Power that year. This marks a sharp rise from 4.87% in 2023 and just 1% in 2021.
Experts have attributed the crisis to the government’s moratorium on new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which has prevented Kenya Power from onboarding new producers to the national grid. The freeze, first introduced in 2018 and later extended by Parliament, was meant to review existing contracts amid claims that the utility had been tied to overpriced deals that inflated consumer tariffs.
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However, the delay in approving new energy projects has now left the local generation capacity struggling to keep pace with the country’s rapid demand growth. The Ministry of Energy began limited rationing in western Kenya as early as September 2024 to manage evening demand spikes and preserve grid stability.
Kenya’s total electricity production rose modestly in the first half of the 2024/2025 financial year, reaching 7,222 GWh, a 6.13% increase from 6,805 GWh during the same period the previous year. Geothermal energy remained the leading contributor, accounting for nearly 40% of generation, while hydropower rose to 24.7% thanks to improved rainfall.
Still, with demand rising faster than new capacity can be added, “stima haitoshi” electricity is not enough, has become an uncomfortable national truth.
