Nairobi, June 4 -- Institutions require a measure of rules and guidelines to maintain order and steer growth. It is no different even in the energy sector. While churches have the Bible, countries have the constitution, the energy sector in Kenya has the Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPD).

The plan forecasts and guides the onboarding of power plants, influences pricing and dispatch to ensure the cheapest plants are utilised first, projects demand and informs a pipeline of power projects to meet the same.

This plan is, however, not always adhered to and frequently meddled with, leaving the sector to be run on deals and prioritising projects based on the I-know-a-guy approach.

In 2018, the then regime slammed the breaks on procurem...