NARUC - Global Regulatory Network

Profiles

Kenya

Electricity Regulatory Board (ERB)

• Official website: www.erb.go.ke.
• Establishment in December 1997, 28 staff members.
• Mr. Matere Keriri appointed Chairman in February 2004.
• The Secretariat, which is headed by the Executive Chairman, has a complement of 28 members of staff, comprising technical and support staff. Technical staff are drawn from the engineering, legal, finance, economics, and communications disciplines, among others.
• Number of commissioners and description of selection process: 7. The membership of the Board comprises an Executive Chairman appointed by the President, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Energy, and five members appointed by the Minister for Energy; two represent the private sector in general and three represent workers, employers and manufacturers organizations, respectively. The Chairman serves a four-year term renewable once; while the Board members serve three-year terms which can also be renewed once.
• ERB is funded through a levy imposed by the Minister for Energy on electricity sales. This is currently set at three (3) Kenya cents per kWh [or 0.03 KSh/kWh]. (US$ 1= KSh 79.00 as of June 2004)

Electricity Industry and Market Structure

• Single buyer structure: Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC).
• One public sector generator and four independent power producers.
• Government ownership: 51%; private sector: 49%.

Current Energy Issues

• Unbundling of Transmission and Distribution
• Third party access

Key Statistics (2004)

• Population:
32.16 millions

• GDP (US$):
$12.754 billion

• Electricity generation:
  fossil: .770 billion kWh
  hydro: 3.288 billion kWh
  other: .896 billion kWh

• Electricity consumption:
N/A

• Electricity imports:
0.172 billion kWh

• Electricity market size:
3.900 TWh/year

• Installed capacity:
5700 million kWh

• Electricity prices for households (US$):
12¢ per kWh