No electricity-monkey business!!!

   In the USA, we see it as very rare that the electricity goes out- maybe in a storm, but not a regular occurrence. In Kenya it is a different story. When I arrived at the Dow Family Home, it was still light outside. The children all crowded at the gate

to welcome  home Dad-Greg Dow- and the rest of the children.

When they saw me each one asked,"Are you my sponsor?"

    Then I learned there was no electricity. Everyone assumed it would come on in a few hours. However, by the time it was dark, out came the candles. I luckily brought a flashlight. The big problem was the food in the refrigerator. I had just bought food at the local grocery store.
      There was a back- up generator, but there was no gasoline to run it. The next morning the electric was still out. However, thanks to a delivery of gasoline, the back -up generator was running in one section of the home.We transferred our food to a working refrigerator. Luckily the stove was gas and could be lit with a match.
       By about 3 in the afternoon, power was restored!! However, that's  when I learned that last year the power at the home was out for a month!! Also,  on June 7, 2016, there was a 4 hour blackout throughout ALL of Kenya due to a monkey!!

 Here is the story from the  BBC:

"A single monkey caused a nationwide blackout in Kenya after falling on to a crucial piece of equipment.

The monkey fell on a transformer at the Gitaru hydroelectric power station on Tuesday, electricity provider KenGen said in a statement.

The transformer then tripped, resulting in the loss of 180 megawatts of power and triggering a blackout across Kenya.

Power was restored almost four hours later and the monkey survived its adventure, KenGen said.

It has now been taken in by the Kenya Wildlife Service.

"KenGen power installations are secured by electric fencing which keeps away marauding wild animals," the statement said.

"We regret this isolated incident and the company is looking at ways of further enhancing security at all our power plants."

The Business Daily Africa website reported that businesses bore the brunt of Tuesday's blackout.

Many had installed generators as a result of previous blackouts, it said."

Another source had an additional perspective:

Businesses have to rely on expensive diesel generators. Foreign investors are often wary of Kenya because of the frequent power shortages, caused by anything from the rain or a stray animal. Blackouts are such a disruption that lawmakers are considering a bill requiring Kenya Power to compensate customers if a shortage lasts for more than three hours. During a parliamentary debate in April on the bill the power went out.

In some ways, the power sector is a microcosm of some of Kenya’s biggest problems: corruption, poor infrastructure, and inequality. Only 5% of rural Kenyans have access to power compared to 50% of urbanites. Last year, a Kenyan official and senior technician at Kenya Power were arrested for taking bribes. Critics blame the poor state of the power grid on the company’s monopoly. Illegal power lines and theft from the grid are common as well.

The government aims to double the percentage of Kenyans with access to power to 40% by 2030, but most analysts say that’s a farfetched goal. Wind power plants in the Turkana region as well as a new coal plant on the coast will require over 400km of new transmission lines to reach Nairobi, responsible for more than half of the country’s total electricity consumption.