KPLC rolls out new meter reading technology to eliminate human error

Dubbed Optical Character Recognition (OCR), the meter reading system eliminates the need for manual typing of meter numbers and readings, instead allowing for the scanning of meter displays to facilitate high-accuracy processing of meter readings.

“Technology is a major driver of our business, and in terms of billing, specifically meter reading, we have been looking at how to make it better and more accurate. With the OCR system, the meter reader will just be required to scan the meter, and the system will pick the meter readings automatically. This will save time and eliminate human error that is likely to occur if the meter reader manually types the readings,” said Richard Wida, Kenya Power’s Commercial Cycle Manager. 

The rollout targets all the Company’s 8 regions across the country, following a successful pilot that was carried out for six months in Nairobi starting March 2025.

A total of 1.8 million postpaid meters are targeted to be read using OCR technology.

These are the post-paid meters whose readings must be taken manually and submitted every month for billing.

Beyond enhancing meter reading efficiency, the OCR system is also geared towards reducing billing anomalies that arise from erroneous meter readings.

“The OCR technology is a major milestone in Kenya Power’s digital transformation journey through which the Company is aiming to strengthen service delivery and enhance customer experience. It will complement other technologies that the Company has deployed to improve service delivery and strengthen operations,” said Mr. Wida.

Among already existing initiatives through which Kenya Power is leveraging technology to improve service delivery is the self-service platforms (Mypower App and USSD Code *977#), which allow customers to access the Company's services on their mobile phones.

Through the self-reading option in the self-service platforms, postpaid customers can read their meters and submit their readings every month for accurate billing.

“In future, we want to enable the use of OCR in self-reading so that our customers can enjoy the convenience of reading their meters with minimal chance of error,” said Mr. Wida.

Apart from the self-service platforms, the Company has also deployed a smart metering system for large power, SME and selected domestic customers. Smart meters support two-way communication, which enables remote meter reading as well as disconnections/reconnections.