Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Charles Keter, has urged Kenyans to consider using electricity for cooking as the energy sector continues to see a drop in power usage attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kenyan government has been on a deliberate expansion of electricity connections around the country to reach more Kenyans, especially in the rural areas.

However, the call to use electricity for cooking is likely to have the primary goal of reducing the loss of Kenyan Power through reduced electricity consumption in the COVID pandemic.

This is very short-term thinking and ignores the needs of consumers. In most cases, cooking with electricity is inefficient and expensive.
Fortunately for Kenyan Power only 3% of households have cooking appliances. Otherwise, it would be exciting to see how Kenyan Power intends to ensure the already fragile grid stability in the face of a sudden increase in electricity consumption for cooking.

Related article: CGTN Africa