The Kenya Power has raised the fuel cost charge levied on electricity bills of March this year. The charge which is levied on electricity consumers to cater for the amount of power generated by diesel generators increased from Sh4.51 per Kilowatt hour (kWh) in February to Sh5.35 in March.
This is expected to further raise the power bills higher as has been the trend for some months. It also comes at a time when Kenya Power is facing accusations of inflating power bills for what some have termed as political reasons.
However, the forex levy has dropped this month according to the data released by Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for March this year.
The levy which compensates for foreign currency costs including the loans incurred by the power producers dropped from Sh1.19 per unit in February to Sh0.95 per unit in March.
The rise in the cost of electricity has been attributed to poor weather which cut the production of cheaper hydropower making the power producers turn to thermal power which is a much expensive alternative.
The increase in electricity prices will have a direct impact on inflation and might raise the cost of basic commodities consequently raising the cost of living in Kenyan households.