Kenya Power’s Sh 1.25 Billion Project To help 55,000 SMEs.
Kenya Power launched a smart metering project to help 55,000 customers in the small and medium business sector across the country.
The Sh1.25 billion project sponsored by the World Bank is part of the Kenya Electricity Modernization Project. This project is scheduled to be finalized by June 30 of this year.
Smart meters are part of an Integrated Metering Infrastructure that facilitates two-way communication between the company and the customer.
The platform provides customers with access to real-time information about their use and billing patterns. This allows them to use an online user interface to assess their energy consumption.
In the event of an outage, the smart meters will communicate directly with Kenya Power’s National Contact Centre. The Contact Centre facilitates fast resolution and improves efficiency as the Kenya Power teams are promptly alerted. Additionally, the smart meter also sends a message to the customer via SMS.
“These combined benefits of error-free data, prompt detection of network issues, and energy consumption audit will go a long way in improving the delivery of services to our SME sector customers.” Said Bernard Ngugi, Managing Director and CEO of Kenya Power during the launch,
At the moment, the initiative involves 20% of the company’s SME clients. However, KPLC aims to build smart meters for all SMEs by the end of the financial year 2023/2024.
Ngugi said KPLC believes that advanced metering technology can further increase customer loyalty. This is on the basis of visibility and prompt power use identification. Additionally, this reduces technical losses that are critical to ensuring a secure and quality power supply.
Sourced from Capital FM