Kenya Power surpassed its connectivity target for the half-year period to December 2023 by 13.87 percent having connected 256,206 new customers to the grid against a target of 225,000 customers.
The new customer connections increased the total customer base to 9,454,819 customers.
The accelerated connectivity was driven by the availability of meters and the deployment of the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) which is meant to fast-track meter installation for new connections across the country, the agency said.
At the beginning of October 2023 when the Rapid Results Initiative was launched, the total pending new connections stood at 236,924.
PRESS STATEMENT: Kenya Power scales up connectivity to accelerate attainment of universal access to electricity. ^JC pic.twitter.com/BqKFnKQanP
— The Kenya Power & Lighting Company Plc. (@KenyaPower) February 20, 2024
The backlog resulted from protracted court battles that hindered the procurement of meters and other materials.
“Following the improvement in meter availability, we recently initiated a metering initiative to accelerate connections.
We have exceeded our target for the half-year period and we are on course towards the attainment of our annual target, which will positively impact the journey towards universal access to electricity by the year 2030,” said Kenya Power’s Managing Director and CEO, Dr. Joseph Siror.
The company targets to connect 400,000 new customers to the national grid by the end of the current financial year.
To attain universal access to electricity, the Company will sustain the connectivity drive, with an additional 4 million customers targeted to be connected by the year 2030.
Apart from the RRI, the company is also banking on the implementation of other projects such as the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) to achieve its annual connectivity targets.
So far 1,431,423 customers have been connected to the grid through the Last Mile Connectivity Project which is funded by the Government of Kenya and development partners including; the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), AFD, European Union (EU), European Investment Bank (EIB) and JICA.
Preparations are ongoing for the rollout of Phase 4 of the Last Mile Connectivity Project which is financed by AFD/EU and ElB.
The project targets to connect 280,000 customers across 32 counties within 18 months.
