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{
    "id": 822551,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/822551/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 102,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I rise to briefly support the Statement by saying that the cost of electricity in this country has gone very high. Indeed, the breakdown of the cost is not justifiable. I am sure that many hon. Members here have become victims of the monopoly of Kenya Power (KP). We are reeling under very high electricity costs; which means that you have no options. If you are given a bill, you just have to pay. Sometimes we even pay when we have not spent time in the facility that is being charged; that is what Kenyans are crying for. Madam Temporary Speaker, I commend this Statement, but it also says a lot about the issue of renewable energy and whether we need to diversify our energy sources if we are to remain competitive as a country. Most of the investors coming to this country find it very difficult meeting the energy needs. When you even look at the way the national grid is distributed, you will find huge areas of this country have been left out. This is so to the extent that there are now private companies in Malindi and Kwale which are now using off-grid opportunities to generate solar energy and are charging households Kshs100 per day for use. That is still very expensive compared to a country like Britain, where with about UK£15 a month, one is assured of electricity in a household, which is comparatively low. However, here in our country, bills continue to soar yet the capacity to produce and generate is very high. Madam Temporary Speaker, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) recently tried to do away with fixed costs, which is not going to help. This is because we can see that it is only affecting the lower end of the market, where the numbers are not very high because of the issues of penetration and coverage. However, the majority of Kenyans are still within the bandwidth that will obviously continue to be affected because of increased consumption. In fact, the way the fixed cost reduction formula has been done seems to discourage consumption. When you discourage consumption, you are actually discouraging productivity. Electricity is supposed to help our country generate more productivity and income. Therefore, Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to support and urge this House to delve deeply into the matter around KP. We need to---"
}