Kenya Power has increased token charges in its latest review on electricity costs.

A spot check by Kenyans.co.ke established that the change was effected last week as seen in the difference in tokens purchased on January 3 and January 11, 2024.

Last week, Kenyans who purchased tokens worth Ksh250 received 8.87 units whereas on Wednesday, the same amount only accounted for 7.82 units.

In a breakdown, the change in token value was occasioned by the sharp increase in the forex adjustment charge which rose from Ksh28.11 to Ksh50.53.

The forex adjustment is the forex charge deducted when buying tokens. It is based on the variation of hard currencies against the Kenyan Shilling.

In the past weeks, the dollar has dominated the Kenyan Shilling with the currency currently trading at an average of Ksh159.

From the Ksh250 purchase, Value Added Tax (VAT) was reduced from Ksh29.18 to Ksh26.15. Kenya Power charges a 16 per cent VAT on the pre-paid token units on the components such as fixed charges, consumption, fuel cost charges, forex adjustments, demand charges and inflation adjustments.

Interestingly, other factors such as the fuel energy charge decreased from Ksh35.31 to Ksh33.85, while the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) charge was Ksh0.7 and dropped to Ksh0.62.

The Water Resources Authority (WRA) charge, a fee deducted for energy purchased from hydropower plants, was also reduced from Ksh0.14 to Ksh0.11.

The Rural Electrification Programme (REP) charge also dropped from Ksh7.35 to Ksh6.48. The charge is passed to the program to implement rural electrification projects.

"This is a five per cent levy on the cost of the units of power consumed by a customer. It is passed on to the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) to implement the rural electrification projects," Kenya Power explains on its site.

In the December review, EPRA reduced fuel prices by Ksh5, Ksh2 and Ksh4.01 for petrol, diesel and kerosene respectively.

Should fuel prices drop or increase in January, more adjustments will be made to reflect the change in the market.