Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has announced plans to connect 400,000 new users to the national grid to meet universal electricity access.

 KPLC MD Joseph Siror said the firm surpassed its connectivity target by 13.87 percent to 256,206 for the half-year period ending December last year.

He said the new customers increased its customer base to 9.45 million, attributed to the availability of meters and the deployment of the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) in October 2023 to fast-track meter installation nationwide.

“The Company targets to connect 400,000 new customers to the national grid by the end of the current financial year to attain universal access to electricity.”

Further, the company says it will sustain the connectivity drive, with an additional 4 million customers targeted to be connected by 2030.

“We have exceeded our target for the half-year period and we are on course towards the attainment of our annual target, which will positively impact the journey towards universal access to electricity by the year 2030,” Siror added.

To meet its yearly connectivity goals, Kenya Power is also counting on launching additional initiatives, such as the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP).

Through the Last Mile Connectivity Project, which is supported by the government and development partners such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Union, European Investment Bank (EIB), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a total of 1.43 million clients have been connected to the grid thus far.

During the rollout of Phase 4 of the Last Mile Connectivity Project, KPLC targets to connect 280,000 customers across 32 counties within a period of 18 months.