Kenya Power and Lighting Company

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Not to be confused with Kenya Electricity Generating Company.
Kenya Power and Lighting Company
Company typePublic
NSE: KPLC
IndustryElectric utility
PredecessorMombasa Electric Power & Lighting Company
Nairobi Power & Lighting Syndicate
Founded6 January 1922; 102 years ago (1922-01-06) by merger
FounderHarrali Esmailjee Jeevanjee & Clement Hertzel
Headquarters
Nairobi
,
Kenya
Key people
Joy Brenda Masinde,
Chairperson of the Board of Directors
Dr. Eng. Joseph Siror,
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
ProductsElectrical power
ServicesElectricity distribution
Websitewww.kplc.co.ke

Kenya Power and Lighting Company, commonly referred to as Kenya Power or shortened KPLC, is a public liability company which transmits, distributes and retails electricity to customers throughout Kenya.[1]

Location[edit]

KPLC headquarters are at Stima Plaza, Kolobot Road in Parklands, Nairobi.[2] The coordinates of the company headquarters are: 01°16'18.0"S, 36°49'14.0"E (Latitude:-1.271668; Longitude:36.820552).[2]

Overview[edit]

Kenya Power is a public company listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The company is a national electric utility company, managing electric metering, licensing, billing, emergency electricity service and customer relations.[3]

In addition to electricity distribution to industry, offices, schools, hospitals, and domestic users, KPLC also offers optic fiber connectivity to telecommunication companies through its optical fiber cable network that runs along its high voltage power lines across the country mainly to manage the national power grid.[3]

History[edit]

Kenya Power traces its origins to 1875 when Seyyied Barghash, the Sultan of Zanzibar, acquired a generator to light his palace and nearby streets. This generator was acquired in 1908 by Harrali Esmailjee Jeevanjee, a Mombasa-based merchant, leading to the formation of the Mombasa Electric Power and Lighting Company whose mandate was to provide electricity to the island. In the same year, Engineer Clement Hirtzel was granted the exclusive right to supply Nairobi city with electricity. This led to the formation of the Nairobi Power and Lighting Syndicate.[4]

In 1922, the Mombasa Electric Power and Lighting Company and Nairobi Power and Lighting Syndicate merged under a new company known as East African Power and Lighting Company (EAP&L). The EAP&L expanded outside Kenya in 1932 when it acquired a controlling interest in the Tanganyika Electricity Supply Company Limited (now TANESCO) and later obtaining a generating and distribution licenses for Uganda in 1936, thereby entrenching its presence in the East African region. EAP&L exited Uganda in 1948 when the Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) was established to take over distribution of electricity in the country.[4]

On 1 February 1954, Kenya Power Company (KPC) was formed and commissioned to construct the transmission line between Nairobi and Tororo in Uganda This was to transmit power generated at the Owen Falls Dam to Kenya. KPC was managed by EAP&L under a management contract. In the same year, EAP&L listed its shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Making it one of the first companies to list on the bourse.[4]

EAP&L exited Tanzania in 1964 by selling its stake in TANESCO to the Government of Tanzania. Due to its presence in only Kenya, EAP&L was renamed the Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) in 1983.[4]

Kenya Power Company de-merged from KPLC in 1997 and rebranded to Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and in 2008, the electricity transmission infrastructure function was carved out of KPLC and transferred to the newly formed Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO). Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) was re-branded Kenya Power in June 2011.[4]

Shareholding[edit]

The 20 largest shareholders in the stock of KPLC, as of 31 August 2015, are illustrated in the table below:[5]

Kenya Power and Lighting Company Stock Ownership
Rank Name of Owner Percentage Ownership
1 Ministry of Finance
50.09
2 Standard Chartered Nominees Limited
20.61
3 KCB Nominees Limited
5.72
4 CFC Stanbic Nominees Limited
2.97
5 NIC Custodial Services Limited
2.35
6 Equity Nominees Limited
1.32
8 Jubilee Insurance Company Limited
1.04
9 UAP Life Association Unitlink Fund
0.53
10 Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited
0.53
11 ICEA Lion Life Assurance Limited
0.49
12 Kenindia Assurance Company Limitedd
5.72
13 Alimohamed Adam
0.26
14 Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited
0.26
15 Phoenix of East Africa Assurance Company Limited
0.17
16 Natbank Trustee & Investment Services Limited
0.13
17 Savitaben Velji Raichand Shah
0.12
18 Dhimantlal Samji Shah
0.12
19 Kyalo Mwangulu Kilele
0.12
20 APA Insurance Limited
0.12
21 Other Shareholders
11.57
Total
100.00

Note:Totals are slightly off due to rounding.

Subsidiary[edit]

In 2015, KPLC elevated its wholly owned school, Kenya Power Training School to the Institute of Energy Studies and Research (IESR), to "provide training solutions for the power sector in the areas of generation, transmission, distribution and inter-connectivity". The primary target population are the countries of the Northern Corridor.[6]

Controversy[edit]

The company has been faced with a lot of controversy regarding making of losses, despite having a major source of profit through sale of electricity to the public, as well as charging exceptionally high electricity bills that caused public uproar.[7] As of April 2021, the company had a commercial debt of KSh. 65.5 billion (approx. US$555 million).[8]

Power purchase from Ethiopia[edit]

In 2022, Kenya Power Limited signed a 25-year power purchase agreement, whereby Ethiopian Electric Power will sell and Kenya Power will buy electricity at specified agreed rates. For the first three years, 200 MW will be exchanged, with the quantity increasing to 400 MW in the remaining 22 years of the contract. The power will be transmitted along the Sodo–Moyale–Suswa High Voltage Power Line. The contract begins on 1 November 2022.[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jackson Okoth (24 November 2009). "KPLC's stressed power system gets Sh12 billion boost". The Standard (Kenya). Nairobi. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b Google (23 October 2016). "Location of Stima House, the Headquarters of Kenya Power and Lighting Company" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b Chepkoech, Anita (19 June 2015). "You don't need to apply for electricity connection, says KPLC". Daily Nation. Nation. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e KPLC (18 November 2010). "Information Memorandum to The Kenya Power & Lighting Company Limited Shareholders: 2010 Rights Issue" (PDF). Nairobi: The Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  5. ^ KPLC (29 October 2015). "The Kenya Power and Lighting Company: Annual Report and Financial Statements for Year Ended 30 June 2015" (PDF). Nairobi: Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  6. ^ Kangethe, Kennedy (12 March 2015). "Kenya Power to establish regional training hub". Nairobi: 98.4 Capital FM. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Kenyans.co.ke".
  8. ^ Kepha Muiruri (28 April 2021). "Kenya Power Seeks New Bank Loans To Refinance Ksh.65.5 Billion Commercial Debt". Citizentv.co.ke. Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  9. ^ Jean Marie Takouleu (3 August 2022). "Ethiopia/Kenya: Clean Power Purchase Agreement to come into effect in November". Afrik21.africa. Paris, France. Retrieved 3 August 2022.

External links[edit]

01°16′18″S 36°49′14″E / 1.27167°S 36.82056°E / -1.27167; 36.82056

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