The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will now be known as Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), the body has announced. In a statement published in local dailies, the body will now go by its new title following changes in law assented by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“This is to notify the general public that following enactment of the Energy Act 2019, the ERC has changed to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority with effect from March 28th, 2019,” read the notice.
The Energy Bill 2017 was among three bills signed into law by Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2019. The bill establishes three national entities to manage and regulate Kenya’s energy resources. The Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation and the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency are among agencies mandated to regulate Kenya’s energy resources.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority will overlook importation, exportation, transmission, distribution, supply, and use of electrical energy with the exception of the licensing of nuclear facilities. The body will also regulate the importation, refining, exportation, transportation, storage and sale of petroleum and petroleum products with the exception of crude oil, among other mandates.
The EPRA, formerly ERC was established under the Energy Act of 2006. Over the years, the regulatory body among others in the sector has been at crossroads over mandates that had earlier not been elaborated. A case in example is the row between EPRA and the Kenya Power over who should approve and license new power plants.
Under the Act, licensing of nuclear facilities is now the mandate of the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NPEA)