Consumers are set to enjoy relief on electricity bills this month following the latest review by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), which saw power prices drop by an average of 9.3 percent.

Domestic customers who have been paying Sh32 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) will now pay Sh29 per unit this month.

The new power prices have taken effect Thursday.

Epra has reduced the Fuel Energy Cost (FEC) from Sh4.33 per unit to Sh4.14. It has also lowered the foreign exchange rate fluctuation adjustment (Ferfa) from Sh6.46 per unit to Sh3.21.

The regulator said the lower prices have been effected because of the lower foreign currency repayments of power purchases made by Kenya Power last month.

The forex losses that the company incurs from repaying power costs in foreign currency are usually recovered from bills in the following month.

“This is due to a significant reduction in the forex adjustment on account of a decrease in the total foreign currency exchange payments made in January 2023,” Epra Director-General Daniel Kiptoo said.

The reduction comes as a welcome relief to millions of consumers who were hit by an increase in power prices of as much as 17.3 percent in January.

The increase was driven by the repayment of billions of shillings of outstanding power purchase costs by Kenya Power.

The bulk repayments were made in November and December in US dollars, euros, British pounds and Indian rupees.

The debt was paid to power producers and had been accumulating since March last year owing to the company’s inability to source forex from the market due to a shortage.