Drive to cut power outages takes off

Kenya Power has rolled out an initiative for live maintenance of its network without switching it off to the regions.

Homes and businesses will now be spared incessant power cuts after Kenya Power rolled out live maintenance of its power network without switching it off across the country.

The initiative, which was first introduced in 2016 on a pilot basis, involved the training of 70 staff to conduct maintenance of live power lines.

Yesterday, Acting Managing Director Jared Othieno flagged off 32 trucks to the utility firm’s operational regions across the country.

“The company is focused on the provision of quality power supply by strengthening the electricity network and streamlining the internal process to improve customer experience and stakeholder confidence,” said Mr Othieno at the ceremony at Ruaraka in Nairobi. The countrywide roll-out of the programme is expected to offer consumers relief from frequent blackouts because of the firm’s generation shortfalls and an ageing grid.

The World Bank is funding the new phase to the tune of Sh2 billion. The first phase was implemented at a cost of Sh720 million.