Kenya power has finally withdrawn an application that was seeking to increase bills by up to a fifth, turning its focus to lowering costs, dealing with electricity theft and recovery of unpaid bills amounting to over Sh27 billion.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter has said that the giant firm had recalled the application that was initially submitted to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in 2019.

Keter confirmed the shift was taken by the new board of directors appointed last year, preferring cost-cutting, sales growth and reduction of lower bought from generators that do not reach households and businesses technically referred to as system losses to tariff increase.

This puts an end to a U-turn by Kenya power that has since 2018 been pushing for an increase in electricity prices by up to a fifth, a relief to Kenyans who have been complaining about the hike in erratic and expensive supply.

The company had prompted to up the consumption charge for usage of fewer than 100 kilowatts per month to Ksh 12.40 a unit from the current Ksh 10.

This comes a day after it had launched a self-service portal for customers to access services online effectively. 

Through the new portal, users can calculate their monthly bills and access information regarding their charges.