Power has already been restored in several parts of the country – KPLC

Kenya Power says it has restored electricity supply to parts of western Kenya, Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi after hours of outages caused by system disruptions.

Kenya Power said restoration is in progress in other parts of the country that also experienced outages.

“We thank our customers for their patience as we work to fully restore normal service,” Kenya Power said in a statement.

In Nairobi, the utility said power had been restored to Eastlands, Westlands, the industrial area and the central business district.

In a public advisory issued on Thursday afternoon at 6:30 pm, Kenya Power said most of the country suffered power outages following a system disturbance on the grid.

The company said this caused power disruptions in most parts of the country.

“We regret any inconvenience caused and ask for our customers’ patience as we work to restore normal power as soon as possible,” the notice said.

“We will issue an update on the progress of the power restoration exercise within two hours.”

Kenya Power on Monday defended itself against the findings of a section of Kenyans that the company ‘huanua stima’ (‘removes electricity from the fabric line) every time it rains’.

The company said the unplanned outages that occur every time it rains are caused by the strong winds that usually accompany heavy rain.

Strong winds, the company said, sway trees causing branches to touch and occasionally fall onto power lines.

“This trips a circuit breaker causing a power outage,” Kenya Power said.

A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by a current greater than what equipment can safely carry (overcurrent).

Its basic function is to interrupt the flow of current to protect equipment and prevent fires.

However, the company did not disclose whether this was what caused the system disruption that caused the widespread power outage.