Kenya Power acting finance general manager Harun Karisa with chief executive Ken Tarus during the Investors briefing n Nairobi on October 24,2017. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has incurred an outstanding debt owed to the tune of Sh36 billion with a huge part of it arising from unpaid electricity bills.
This has brought to the fore KPLC's huge credit exposure that could have dented its financial position last year.
In the year under review, the company's net profit before taxation decreased by 9.7 per cent to Sh10.9 billion, from Sh12.08 billion the previous financial year.
According to the Star, "at least Sh16 billion of unpaid electricity bills, especially from large consumers, make the biggest part of the outstanding bills."
Huge debtors include Mumias Sugar who owe the power company up to Sh1 billion in unpaid bills spanning over one year.
Kenya Power corporate communications manager Johnstone Ole Turana said the actual contested bills are less than Sh4 billion now that they collect at least Sh12 billion in bills every month.
‘’The monthly collection of Sh12 billion in electricity bills that is appearing in our statement was not due by the time of closing the year. We collect electricity receivables on a rolling basis. It is only listed as default 14 days after meter reading,’’ said Turana.
This could be the reason the power distributor is investing in smart meters targetting large and commercial customers and have already installed 5,376 meters during the year under review.