By Linda Musiime
Kenya Power rolled out a smart metering project that will benefit
55,000 customers in the Small and Medium Enterprise sector across the
country.
The Kshs.1.25 billion World Bank funded project is part of the Kenya
Electricity Modernisation Project and is slated to be completed by 30th
June this year.
The smart meters are part of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure that
facilitates two-way communication between the company and the customer.
The platform gives customers access to real time information on their
consumption patterns and billing thus allowing them to assess their
energy usage through an online customer portal.
In case of any outage, the smart meters are able to communicate
directly with the company’s National Contact Centre which facilitates
immediate resolution and enhances efficiency as the Kenya Power teams
are alerted promptly. Additionally, the smart meter also sends a
notification to the customer via SMS.
Speaking during the launch, Kenya Power’s Managing Director and CEO,
Bernard Ngugi said, “These combined benefits of error-free data, prompt
network problem identification, and audit of energy consumption will go
a long way in enhancing service delivery to our customers in the SME
sector.”
As the project covers 20% of the company’s SME customers, the company
projects to have installed the smart meters for all SMEs by the end of
the 2023/2024 financial year.
“We believe that the advanced metering technology will further enhance
customer satisfaction based on the visibility and prompt detection of
power usage and also reduce technical losses which are key to ensuring
reliable and quality supply of power,” Mr. Ngugi said.
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company PLC (Kenya Power) owns and
operates most of the electricity transmission and distribution system
in the country. The company’s customer base stood at over 7.9 million
as at the end of December 2020.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.