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{
    "id": 1378847,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378847/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 120,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "straightforward solutions for the completion of certain power lines. For instance, the Turkwel-Ortum to Kitale Line that is supposed to evacuate power from, not just Turkwell, but also some of the projects that have been put there in terms of renewables like solar. Here is my disappointment in going through some of the proposals that have been brought before this House in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS). I have here the document that was presented to the Standing Committee on Energy. This is the brief of the 2024 BPS in the medium term. There is a very big difference between all the previous BPS in the last few years and the ones for 2024. If you look at the BPS of 2021, I will give an example. You will see a clear commitment from the Government to build 3,082 kilometers of additional transmission lines. A specific target is given even in terms of kilometers of the transmission lines to be built. Then you can be able, as a House, to even follow up and audit. They said they are going to connect an additional 2.4 million new households; that is 2021. However, when you look at the language of the BPS this year, you will not get that specific. You will not be told how many kilometers of the transmission line are going to be built and how they are going to be prioritized. So, what we want to do as a Committee is, we are in a difficult situation as a country. However, we have gotten ourselves committed to very expensive PPAs, and there are limited options. I heard the Senate Majority Leader saying there are lawyers in this Committee, they should tell us. My position in that Committee during those deliberations, I know as a lawyer that if a contract is unconscionable, you have the right to terminate it. I am convinced that those contracts are unconscionable, and a bold decision needs to be taken. However, as I have said, these IPPs are willing to sit down and renegotiate some of those contracts but for us, we will push for greater transparency in this sector. As I told you, most of these contracts have already run for 10 or 15 years and some of them are coming to an end. I urge the current administration, and this is something the Committee was very clear on, to not renew some of these agreements, especially the ones that are being run using heavy fuel oil. Some of the players came to us and said, “Sen. Sifuna, this plant can still produce electricity. It has a few more good years in it and there is no need for you to scrape it”. If they are not going to scrape those plants, then we should obtain concessions from them in terms of the pricing of electricity from those plants. However, the current administration should be very hesitant to renew any of those contracts because I feel that they are unconscionable. I urge my colleagues that when that amendment Bill to the Energy Act comes before the House, they support it. We had the opportunity to listen to a few stakeholders because that Bill went through public participation. Some people are saying, the recommendations are not deep enough. That we have not done justice to the issue. However, I want people to understand the limitations within which the Committee was operating. As I said, we have already tied our hands in terms of the duration of those contracts and the prices. 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."
}