Kenya Power’s electricity sales grew by 1,389.42 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the period ended June 2026, marking the sharpest rise in four years on increased connections and surging demand.
Provisional data shows Kenya Power sold 12,792.42 GWh in the period, a rise of 12.2 percent from 11,403 GWh a year ago, reflecting the impact of growing demand for electricity and the 411,710 new connections.
The growth is set to drive Kenya Power’s electricity revenues from the Sh219.29 billion it reported in the year ended June 2025, even as the utility remains wary of the impact of lower consumer tariffs on earnings.
Electricity demand has been on a steady rise, marked by fresh peak demands that have, however, cast doubts on Kenya Power’s ability to meet the rising consumption amid growing imports from Ethiopia.
For example, Kenya has recorded four peak demands since July last year, with the current one being 2,549 megawatts (MW) on July 15, 2026, underscoring the soaring consumption.
The financial impact of the record high electricity sales in the period ended June 2026 will be disclosed when Kenya Power announces its performance for the period.
Higher electricity sales are critical to Kenya Power given that the firm is undertaking a revamp of the grid to lower losses, besides meeting the growing connections.
Kenya Power has already disclosed that revenues from electricity sales in the half-year ended December 2025 grew to Sh107.42 billion from Sh114.87 billion a year ago, driven by increased unit sales and reduced system losses.
Joseph Siror, the Managing Director of Kenya Power, last year decried the impact of the reduced consumer tariffs on electricity revenues, adding that a reduction in base consumer tariffs was partly to blame for the Sh11.84 billion fall in electricity revenues in the year ended Jun 2025, even as unit sales grew by 887 GWh to 11,403 GWh.
Consumer tariffs have been falling year-on-year in line with the gazetted rates that took effect in April 2023 and were set to lapse in June this year.
For example, the gazetted cost of a kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power for domestic consumers using more than 100kWh a month fell to Sh18.57 in the year to June 2026 from Sh19.08 a year ago and Sh20.58 in the year to June 2024.
Tariff for the big consumers who use between 1,000-15,000kWh a month dropped to Sh18 per unit in the year ended June 2026 from Sh18.3 a year earlier and Sh19.12 in the year to June 2024.
The reduction in the base tariffs affected all consumer categories over the three years from 2023, negating the impact of increased unit sales.
The tariffs were set to rise from July this year, but the State indefinitely froze the new tariffs for fear of triggering public outrage over a high cost of living. The new tariffs were to last for three years, until June 2029.
Increased demand for electricity has upped pressure on Kenya Power, forcing the utility to import more from Ethiopia and Uganda, besides rationing supplies in the evening when demand peaks.
The data shows that imports from Ethiopia grew to 10 percent or 1,584.45 GWh in the year ended June 2026, from 1,268GWh or 8.7 percent a year earlier.
Increased imports from Ethiopia have been key in averting widespread rationing of electricity when demand peaks in the evening, besides cushioning consumers from steep power bills.