Millions of Kenyans relying on prepaid meters for electricity and water will have to update their gadgets before November 24 this year as the metering software that is currently in use by the utility firms is set to expire.
Kenya Power Company has confirmed that, after the set deadline, all meters will not accept new prepaid tokens, rendering them obsolete.
The firm’s manager for Coast region, Mr Phineas Marete, emphasised the urgency of the situation, stating that failure to reset and update the software will result in consumers being unable to use newly purchased tokens.
“To ensure functioning of all the meters after this date, it is necessary to perform token identifier (TID) rollover by resetting the TID memory from zero. This will be done through the use of a key change token (KCT) which is a set of two 20-digit numbers that is input into a meter when the meter's functionality needs to be reconfigured or changed,” Mr Marete added.
He said the whole process will be free and Kenya Power will only send customers a code to be keyed into their meters.
Mr Marete cautioned that tokens purchased but not used before the deadline will become invalid. The developments were disclosed during a media engagement workshop held at the Mombasa Beach Hotel.
“Once the rollover is complete the prepaid meter will not accept old tokens. It is therefore very critical to carry out the rollover smoothly to avoid disruptions because when it's done, meters will reject tokens from authorised vendors,” Mr Marete said.
“The benefits of the rollover go beyond maintaining functionality; with the new system, tokens will expire automatically after a specific time, reducing the risk of compromised tokens, theft or manipulations of token vending systems,” he added.
A majority of Kenyans have, however, said they have no idea on the changes and called for a mass education campaign.
“I have no information of the meter reset, I have just heard it from you today,” said Ms Salim Asha, a Mombasa resident.
According to Kenya Power, the meters software issue is a global problem. There are approximately 70 million standard transfer specification (STS) prepaid meters in over 40 countries, used by more than 500 utilities.
Encrypted tokens are used to transfer units purchased on to STS meters. These tokens are encoded with a unique TID that represents the minutes elapsed since the base date of January 1, 1993 and identifies the date and time of the token generation.
TIDs comprise 20 digits to prevent tokens from being reused at meters. They utilise STS for carrying information between a point-of-sale and a meter.
At the sametime, Kenya Power has announced plans to phase out the use of postpaid meters in rural areas in the next three years.
This is aimed at eradicating power theft as well as additional costs that involve hiring meter readers, the utility company said.
While 2.1 million Kenya Power customers are connected through postpaid, 6.8 million are on prepaid.
