Kenya: Firms in Rush to Obey Energy Audit Directive

Posted on : Tuesday , 29th September 2015

Industries and large institutions are in a race to comply with a directive to carry out energy audits ahead of today's statutory deadline.

The Energy Management Regulations 2012 published by the Energy Regulatory Commission require consumers of more than 180,000 units of electricity per year to carry out audits every three years.

They target saving of at least 30 per cent per institution within the three years to reduce electricity expenses, especially for industries, which will allow cheap manufactured goods.

With the deadline set for today, ERC says only about 1,000 out of the 3,000 targeted facilities could have complied, leaving owners of the rest at risk of jail terms or fines of up to Sh1 million.

"The level of compliance at the moment is not so high but in the last few days we have been receiving a lot of reports. We are expecting that by the deadline, about 1,000 facilities will have complied. After that the commission will be at liberty to apply the provisions of the law," said Mr Pavel Oimeke, ERC director for renewable energy in a telephone interview with the Nation.

About Sh43 million is lost every day through inefficient electricity consumption, according to estimates by the energy sector regulator.

The ERC regulations require targeted facilities to designate energy managers, prepare and submit energy management policies to the commission for approval and carry out regular audits.

The institutions are also required to submit audit reports and implementation plans to the commission.

Large power consumers, mainly comprising industries located around Nairobi, account for about 60 per cent of the country's total consumption.

The targeted facilities consist of commercial buildings, hotels, institutions such as universities and industries, among others.