{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1801024,
        "msgid": "chickens-die-in-the-electricity-barn-1781301049",
        "date": "2026-06-13 02:54:00",
        "title": "Chickens Die in the Electricity Barn",
        "author": "Budi Raharjo",
        "source": "REPUBLIKA",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Energy",
        "summary": "Widespread rolling blackouts across Java have disrupted small businesses and households, exposing a paradox in Indonesia's energy-rich nation. While the government attributes the outages to technical glitches, analysts point to potential coal supply mismanagement at power plants, raising serious questions about governance and transparency in the energy sector.",
        "content": "<p>At five in the morning, Bu Siti\u2019s small kitchen is already alive. Not\nwith firewood like in her grandmother\u2019s era. Nor with a kerosene stove.\nThe kitchen pulses with electricity. The rice cooker is on to make nasi\nuduk. The air fryer roasts chicken. The blender whirs sambal kacang. The\nmixer stirs mini martabak batter. The freezer stores ice cubes and\nbeverage ingredients. The induction cooker heats soto broth. This is the\npicture of a small business whose entire lifeline depends on one thing\nwe often take for granted: electricity. Then suddenly, the lights go\nout. Initially, Bu Siti is calm. Just a few minutes, she thinks. But an\nhour passes. The rice is not perfectly cooked. The ice cubes begin to\nmelt. Customers who ordered breakfast start asking questions. In the\nguest room, her child, who is taking an online exam, stares at a laptop\nscreen as dark as a future that has suddenly lost its connection. The\nelectricity comes back on. Then off again. On. Off. On. Off. Like a\nromantic relationship with an unclear status. Over the past few days,\nmillions of Javanese have experienced a new ritual called \u2018byar-pet\u2019.\nBandung experienced it. Jakarta felt it. Cileungsi got its share. Some\nfor just an hour. Some for up to five hours. Indonesia, which has long\nprided itself as an energy-rich nation, suddenly looks like a sugar\nmerchant\u2019s child who has run out of sweet tea. The irony is suffocating.\nWe live on land that holds one of the world\u2019s largest coal reserves. We\nexport energy to various countries. Yet the people must prepare candles\nin their own homes. Chickens die in the rice barn. Or, to borrow a more\ncontemporary term: a coal nation scrambling for electricity. Of course,\nthe government has an explanation. The spokesperson for the Ministry of\nEnergy and Mineral Resources, Dwi Anggia, denied a coal supply crisis.\nAccording to her, the blackouts occurred due to technical disruptions.\nThe ministry claims to have communicated with PLN to prevent similar\nincidents. The explanation is important. But precisely because it is\nimportant, it requires transparency brighter than a hundred-watt LED\nlamp. Because in the public sphere, other suspicions have developed. The\nInstitute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), through its CEO Fabby\nTumiwa, questioned the initial narrative. According to IESR, the rolling\nblackouts over recent days have financially harmed the public.\nCompensation from PLN, if any, will never match the losses of small\ntraders, home industries, micro-enterprises, and families whose\nactivities were paralysed by the loss of electricity. Fabby suspects\nthere is a possibility of low coal reserves at several Java-Bali\ncoal-fired power plants, preventing them from operating optimally. The\nPlant Operating Days are said to be below the safe threshold.\nDisruptions at other plants, such as the Jawa 1 CCGT, further\nconstrained the system. More interestingly, IESR noted that industry\nplayers had actually issued warnings since March and April about\npotential coal supply disruptions due to delays in the approval of the\nRKAB. If this suspicion is correct, the problem is not merely a broken\ncable or a temperamental substation. The problem is governance. We have\nfor too long considered energy a technical matter for engineers. Yet it\nis also a matter of administrative discipline, political courage,\ncorporate compliance, and even national morality. At this point, Dahlan\nIskan\u2019s writing feels like a slap wrapped in humour. Dahlan is not just\na senior columnist. He is a journalist who once built up Tempo and Jawa\nPos. He has also served as Minister of State-Owned Enterprises,\nPresident Director of PLN, and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.\nHe knows the world of electricity not from air-conditioned seminar\nrooms, but from noisy engine rooms. In his piece titled \u2018Mati Lumbung\u2019,\nhe wrote a famous quip: \u2018Out of 10 coal entrepreneurs, 15 are naughty.\u2019\nThe quip is indeed hyperbolic. But precisely because it is hyperbolic,\nit succeeds in capturing the public\u2019s unease.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chickens-die-in-the-electricity-barn-1781301049",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}