Kenya Rations Power In Face Of Hydroelectric Shortfall...05/24/00

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) _ With a rain shortage drying up lakes that power hydroelectric dams, Kenya announced stringent power-rationing Tuesday with 12-hour cuts, six days a week.

Manufacturers say existing rationing already is destroying the shrinking industrial base in this East African nation of 29 million and that further reductions will only make things worse.

Beginning Monday, all domestic users will experience power cuts from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., manufacturers from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., Energy Minister Francis Masakhalia said.

Kenyans are worried that the 12-hour power cuts will cause an array of problems, everything from food spoiling without refrigeration to employers being forced to lay off staff.

"Arrangements have been made to ensure that essential services are not interrupted," Masakhalia told a news conference.

He said police patrols will be substantially increased in industrial areas to ensure security during the shutdowns.

The Kenya Power and Lighting Co., a partially government-owned monopoly that distributes power generated by the recently split-off Kenya Electricity Generating Co., introduced six-hour, three days a week, power cuts in September.

The rationing will not apply in the central business district of the capital, Nairobi, where most government offices are also located.

Critics accuse the Ministry of Energy of failing to act on predictions last November that a lack in April-May rains would hurt the hydroelectric plants that produce most of Kenya's electricity.

The national daily power output has dropped from 580 megawatts to 480 megawatts. New York, in comparison, uses more than 30,000 megawatts at peak summer demand.

Masakhalia said the government is negotiating to buy 30 megawatts from neighboring Uganda and considering renting a diesel power plant and repairing a retired 30 megawatt diesel plant at the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.

Renting a plant needed to meet the current average 180 megawatt shortfall at peak hours will cost $10 million a month and consume diesel worth $20 million, a cost that would have to be passed on to consumers, the energy minister said.

Masakhalia said construction is under way on at least six geothermal and thermal plants to reduce dependency on hydroelectricity, but none of the plants will be operational before next year.

Although rainfall is expected to increase slightly between May and August, it will not improve water levels in dams until September, when the yearly short rains begin. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20000523_1151.html