The Nairobi region accounted for 45 percent of the extra 1.114 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity sold in the year to June 2026, underscoring the impact of heavy industrial presence and middle-class population in the capital and surroundings.
An analysis of data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) shows that Nairobi consumed 501.02 million kWh in the period, significantly ahead of the second-placed North Eastern region, which took 16 percent or 180 million kWh.
Nairobi’s big share of the extra electricity that Kenya Power sold highlights the impact of the heavy concentration of industries, big businesses and middle-income households in the capital and surrounding counties.
Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos and Kajiado are home to some of the biggest industries in the country, besides accounting for a high number of households with high spending power and ultimately bigger usage of the national grid.
‘The region, comprising Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos, and Makueni counties, has a high concentration of population and industrial activity, which contributes significantly to its electricity demand,’ Epra says.
Electric cookers, refrigerators and washing machines are some of the drivers of heavy usage of the national grid across these households. These appliances are common in middle-class homes.
Nairobi region is also home to the biggest number of Kenya Power customers with 3.02 million clients as at June 2025, ahead of the North Eastern region at 1.03 million.
The surge in consumption in Nairobi helped push Kenya Power’s overall electricity sales to 12.78 billion kWh in the year ended June 2026 from 11.4 billion kWh a year earlier, helping push revenues to Sh238.24 billion from Sh219.28 billion in the same period.
Kenya Power added 411,710 customers in the year ended June 2026, and the market growth in Nairobi and the other seven regions will be revealed when the utility releases its annual report for the period.
Central Rift, which includes Nakuru, Narok, Nyandarua, Kericho, Bomet, Baringo, and Samburu counties, accounted for 131.54 million kWh or 11.8 percent of the additional electricity that Kenya Power sold in the year to June 2026.
The Coastal region took 6.9 percent of the additional electricity sold in the period, followed by Mount Kenya at 5.9 percent and North Rift at 5.3 percent. South Nyanza took the lowest share at 3.5 percent.
Mount Kenya region comprises Murang’a, Nyeri, Embu, Kirinyaga, Laikipia, parts of Marsabit and parts of Meru, while North Rift includes Uasin Gishu, Nandi, Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Bungoma, and parts of Trans Nzoia counties.
South Nyanza, which is the smallest consumer of the national grid of all the eight regions at two percent, comprises Kisii, Nyamira, Homa Bay and Migori counties.
Epra data shows that Nairobi consumes at least 43 percent of the supplies from the national grid in a year, followed by the Coast region, whose minimum consumption is at 17.7 percent, followed by North Eastern (11.3 percent) and Central Rift (9.4 percent).
Kenya Power is now under pressure to meet the soaring consumption at a time when local electricity generation has grown at a slower rate, forcing the utility to lean on Ethiopia and Uganda to shore up supplies.