Kenyans Receive Less Tokens as Electricity Prices Increase 

Electricity prices have increased, with Kenyans receiving less power tokens than they did at the beginning of the month.

Through an analysis of tokens purchased by different consumers in the last three weeks, Money254 established that Kenya Power reduced the amount allocated for tokens in each purchase due to an increase in pass-down charges.

‍Why it Matters: The increase in electricity prices comes at a time when many Kenyans are facing challenges in meeting their basic needs, given the high cost of living. The increase means that Kenyans will have to increase their budget for electricity bills.

For instance, on April 3, if one bought tokens worth Ksh300, they would receive 11.9 tokens. However, if you bought a similar amount today, you will receive 11.4 tokens.

Analysis of the token details reveals that most of the pass-down charges have increased, especially in the fuel and forex charges.

Using the Ksh300 purchase on April 3, Ksh41.28 went towards the fuel charge. However, for similar token amounts bought in the last week, Ksh47.19 went towards the fuel charge, representing a spike of Ksh5.91.

Fuel charge is a pass-through cost that is charged to consumers for electricity generated using fuel products.

Also Read: EPRA Increases Cost of Electricity, Effective August 2024

"Fuel Charge Cost is the added cost or rebates to the consumers as a result of fluctuations in world prices as well as fluctuations in the quantity of oil consumed by electricity generation," Kenya Power noted in its explainer.

"The fuel cost charge lags one month behind the actual price of the fuel. This money is collected by KPLC, and all of it is passed on directly to electricity generation companies, who in turn pay fuel suppliers."

The March fuel prices were Ksh176.58 for Super Petrol, Ksh167.06 for Diesel and Ksh151.39 for Kerosene.

On the other hand, forex costs increased by Ksh1.93 for a Ksh300 token purchase in the last three weeks. 

"The foreign exchange component is related to the fluctuation of hard currencies against the Kenyan shilling for expenditure related to the power sector, e.g., project loan repayments," Kenya Power added in the explainer.

The increase in electricity prices comes at a time when many Kenyans are facing challenges in meeting their basic needs, given the high cost of living.

This has seen the government undertake various reforms to lower the cost of power. For instance, on April 17, President William Ruto assented to the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which removed the 25% duty on imported fully assembled electric transformers.

The move is aimed at reducing the costs of electricity connections and also reducing the cost of power in the long run.

"This measure is expected to lower electricity connection costs for consumers by reducing the price of transformers, as every connection relies on transformer infrastructure," the State House explained.

"It will also help bring down electricity tariffs by cutting transformer replacement costs."

Also Read: How Much You Will Pay for KPLC Tokens After January 2024 Hike