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{
"id": 1378846,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378846/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13599,
"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
"slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
},
"content": "What did the Committee do? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am very grateful, that out of the conversation we had, the Committee is also supportive of a legislative amendment, a Bill that I am sponsoring, to bring transparency, requiring that there be disclosure of beneficial ownership of all the companies who are supplying electricity to Kenyans. In fact, if you do not disclose, then you cannot do business with KPC or any other uptaker of electricity. Secondly, there is something called capacity charge. When I will be moving that Bill, I will explain a bit more. There is a charge for just about every person or every entity that has signed an agreement with KPC, whether they are selling power to KPC or not. This is because this capacity charge is exactly what it says it is. It is for their ability to supply that capacity. That it is there, even when you are not utilizing it. We have expended resources and we have been told about the loans in this sector being denominated largely in foreign currency. So, they have provided that capacity and we have all to pay. If you add just one IPP to the grid today, through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), you will see the cost of electricity going up. This is because of that capacity charge, that you have added extra capacity, whether Kenyans are buying power from that particular plant or not. Then there is the question of transparency in the purchase of electricity from all these IPPs. As you have been told, the bulk of the electricity we produce is from green sources, which are cheaper. However, at the point of the decision-making, the dispatcher at KPLC is sitting there and has a view of all the power producers in the country. He or she can say that they will put Triumph Power online, switch off the geothermal or put on Lake Turkana Wind Power. At that particular moment in time, the decision has to be made to avail electricity that is the cheapest to the consumer. That does not always happen. We had a conversation with a gentleman from Lake Turkana Wind Power. The PPA between KPC and Lake Turkana Wind Power provides for a discount of 50 per cent of the cost of electricity from Lake Turkana Wind Power if a certain threshold is hit. They sat us in this chamber, and they told us that in fact, KPC has never utilized that discount that is available for them. They have said that on many occasions they are curtailed, which is, to be told to reduce your production and the amount of power that you are putting onto the grid. This is because they want to give preference to the expensive thermal sources, which they claim are more stable. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you speak to the players in this sector, they will tell you that the stories that you hear from KPC about baseload and intermittent suppliers of electricity, are all part of a scheme to make sure that Kenyans do not benefit from the cheapest available electricity. So, you will see when the Bill comes before this House, that we have tried to tie the hands of the dispatcher. That in dispatching electricity, priority must be given to the cheapest sources of electricity, such as the Lake Turkana Wind Power. Then there is a question of completion of transmission lines. Some of my colleagues have spoken about this issue. It appeared to us quite ridiculous that are known The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}