JP\/13\/Power<\/p>\n
New power bill to be completed next week: Govt<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The government expects to be able to complete the draft of a new
\nlaw on electricity next week, which will be immediately submitted
\nto the House of Representatives for deliberation.<\/p>\n
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
\nsaid on Friday that the new law would be a revised version of
\nElectricity Law No. 20\/2002, which was annulled by the
\nConstitutional Court on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said that the drafting of the new law would not take much
\ntime as it would only focus on revising three chapters of the
\nabove law.<\/p>\n
"I expect it to be completed next week," Purnomo said.<\/p>\n
The Electricity Law, endorsed by the House in 2002, aims at a
\nthe gradual liberalization of the power sector, which has been
\nmonopolized for decades by state electricity firm PT PLN.<\/p>\n
But the Constitutional Court argued that electricity was a
\ncommodity vital to the lives of many citizens and should
\ntherefore remain under government control.<\/p>\n
The court reviewed the above Electricity Law upon complaints
\nfiled on behalf of PLN workers by non-governmental organizations
\n(NGOs) and labor unions, which claimed the law would lead to
\nlayoffs and higher electricity rates for consumers.<\/p>\n
Only three articles -- Articles 16, 17 and 68 -- contain
\nstipulations on liberalizing the power sector.<\/p>\n
The government has said the new law would take a "softer"
\napproach to liberalizing the power generation sector.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said
\nthat under the revised law, investors could still invest in power
\nplant development, but they would not be permitted to sell and
\ndistribute the power directly to consumers.<\/p>\n
"To sell and distribute the power, they have to cooperate with
\nstate-owned electricity company PLN," he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp13power-1447899208",
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