Kenya Power customers in Western Kenya have been promised of a steady power devoid of outages by March this year.
The Company Managing Director Bernard Ngugi announced that a new line from Ol Karia, Lessos and terminating in Kisumu will be ready by the beginning of March this year.
Ngugi says the line will address concerns on blackouts that have been occasioned in the region in the past disrupting businesses.
“I want to assure the Western Region, and this is coming with a message from our Cabinet Secretary Hon. Keter that towards the beginning of March, I think this will be a problem of the past,” he said.
Speaking in Kisumu when he launched the smart metering project, Ngugi says Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) is working round the clock to stabilize power in the region.
He announced that Kenya Power has been losing huge revenue whenever there is a blackout in the region.
“We have customers in this region and the moment we have back outs, it is a very big pain to us, we don’t sell anything, we don’t generate revenue and it has been a very big loss to KPLC,” he said.
The MD says the government is fully aware of the challenges faced by the public during outages and everything is being done to restore the situation.
Ngugi was responding to a concern raised by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and industry (KNNCC) Kisumu chapter chairman Israel Agina on the losses business people incur in the region during black outs.
Agina told Kenya Power to look into a long term solution to address the matter which they have raised over time without any solution.
“Our major concern has been the supply infrastructure which has been failing and also intermittency of supply and load shedding which has been done without prior notices,” he said.
