Electricity cost in Kenya

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Consumption ^*

kWh

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Month

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KSh

	KSh
Consumption
Water consumption
Demand charge
Fixed charge
FCC
FERFA
IA
WARMA
ERC
REP
VAT
Total

Total of kWh from KSh .

	KSh
Consumption
Water consumption
Demand charge
Fixed charge
FCC
FERFA
IA
WARMA
ERC
REP
VAT
Total

About the tool

This tool allows consumers in Kenya to calculate current and historic electricity costs.

The data used are taken from a combination of official sources and monthly electricity bills. We strive to ensure the accuracy of the values, using multiple real bills for verification, but do not provide any guarantee and urge you to verify directly with KPLC if a specific value is important to you.

The following sections describe the details of the different tariffs and charges used in the calculator.

Cost per kWh

The graph below shows how the typical cost of electricity per kWh has changed. The graph excludes fixed and demand charges. Domestic (DC) cost is based on the >10kWh usage band. A table of historic cost per kWh is also available.

	KSh / kWh
Consumption
Water consumption
Demand charge
Fixed charge
FCC
FERFA
IA
WARMA
ERC
REP
VAT
Total

Tariff structure

These are the core tariffs set by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company. They do not change frequently. See below for the additional (and quite substantial) variable surcharges.

The current schedule of tariffs is effective from January 2022. Historic tariffs are available here.

Tariff	Charges (KES)
Tariff	Energy charge (per kWh)	Demand charge (per kVA)
DC1 (Domestic - Lifeline, 240 V) For average consumption below 100kWh	7.70	n/a
DC2 (Domestic, 240 V) and IT (Domestic water heating) For average consumption over 100kWh	12.60	n/a
SC1 (Small Commercial 1, 240 V) For average consumption below 100kWh	7.70	n/a
SC2 (Small Commercial 2, 240 V) For average consumption over 100kWh	12.40	n/a
CI1 (Commercial, 415 V)	Peak: 8.70 Off-peak: 4.35	800
CI2 (Commercial, 11 kV)	Peak: 8.10 Off-peak: 4.05	520
CI3 (Commercial, 33 kV)	Peak: 8.00 Off-peak: 4.00	270
CI4 (Commercial, 66 kV)	Peak: 7.80 Off-peak: 3.90	220
CI5 (Commercial, 132 kV)	Peak: 7.60 Off-peak: 3.80	220

Off-peak hours

The Government of Kenya announced special off-peak rates for commercial customers with effect from December 2017. Off-peak rates are applicable as follows:

Day	Off-peak hours
Weekdays	22:00 to 00:00 and 00:00 to 06:00
Saturdays and public holidays	14:00 to 00:00 and 00:00 to 08:00
Sundays	All day (00:00 to 00:00)

In addition, the tariff notice states that:

For CI1-CI5 customers operating at 100% production capacity during on peak and off peak hours, they will be given a 5% discount on the applicable Energy Rate ... for the off peak consumption upon satisfactory confirmation by KPLC that their production is at 100%.

This additional 5% discount is not included in the tariffs displayed above.

Surcharges

Surcharges are applied on all tariffs as follows.

Surcharge	Rate / Notes
Fuel Cost Charge (FCC)	Variable rate per kWh, published monthly by KPLC in the Kenya Gazette (but not on their website!). It is reflective of the cost (to KPLC) of generating electricity during the previous month.
Foreign Exchange Rate Fluctuation Adjustment (FERFA)	Variable rate per kWh, published monthly by KPLC. This includes the sum of the foreign currency costs incurred by KenGen, sum of the foreign currency costs incurred by KPLC other than those costs relating to Electric Power Producer, and the sum of the foreign currency costs incurred by KenGen.
Inflation Adjustment (IA)	Variable rate per kWh, published monthly by KPLC. Factors include the Underlying Consumer Price Index as posted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the Consumer Prices Index for all urban consumers (CPI - U) for the US city average for all items 1982 - 84 as published by the United States Department of Labour Statistics. We are not certain why the cost of Kenyan electricity depends on how much folks in the USA are spending.
WARMA Levy	Variable rate per kWh, published monthly by KPLC. It is determined from the amount of energy supplied from hydroelectric facilities in the previous month.
ERC Levy	3 cents per kWh
REP Levy	5% of the base rate
Power Factor Surcharge	A surcharge applied if the consumer's power factor falls below 0.9. The surcharge applied is 2% of the base rate and the demand charge for every 1 per cent by which the Power Factor is below 0.9.
VAT	16% on demand charge, fuel energy cost and non-fuel energy cost. (Prior to 2 September 2013, consumption less than 200kWh was exluded from VAT, and VAT was charged at 12%. These concessions were removed in the VAT Act 2013.)