EPRA Begins Review of New Kenya Power Tariffs Ahead of July Changes

Kenya Power has submitted new tariff proposals to EPRA, with revised electricity prices expected to take effect from 1 July 2026. The specific rates remain undisclosed, but the utility is asking for more revenue to upgrade an ageing distribution network, compensate power producers, and fund critical infrastructure. EPRA has begun stakeholder meetings, and public participation will follow before the new tariffs are gazetted for the three year cycle running to June 2029.
If approved, this means higher bills for homes and businesses. And the timing stings, because prices have actually been falling. The cost of 200kWh dropped from Sh6,349 in April 2023 to Sh5,656 last month. Good for consumers, painful for Kenya Power, whose revenues fell by Sh11.84 billion in the year to June 2025 even as electricity sales grew. A July reversal would land on households already stretched thin.

But here’s the part most people miss. Kenya runs a cost reflective tariff system, where what you pay closely matches what it actually costs to generate, transmit, and distribute power. That’s why EPRA can’t simply keep prices low. The revenue funds the grid maintenance itself.
And the proof is in the reliability of supply. The COMESA Market Surveillance Report 2026 shows Ethiopia charging residents just $0.022/kWh, but enduring 141 hours of blackouts a year. Zambia records 203.8 hours. Uganda, 106 hours. Kenya? Just 9.4 hours.

Cheap power means very little when it isn’t there. Our neighbours’ lower tariffs have starved their grids of the maintenance and upgrades ours has received. Kenyans pay more per unit, but the system works. EPRA’s review ultimately comes down to a trade off between lower prices today and a power system dependable enough to keep homes and businesses running consistently.