Bahlil and PLN CEO Speak Frankly About Indonesia's Current Electricity Situation
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bahlil Lahadalia, and the President Director of PT PLN (Persero), Darmawan Prasodjo, have provided explanations regarding disruptions to the electricity system on the island of Java. This follows the occurrence of rolling blackouts across Java in recent times.
Bahlil admitted that he is paying full attention to the rolling blackouts conducted by PT PLN (Persero) in several regions. Consequently, he has requested PLN to immediately take measured and comprehensive mitigation steps to ensure such incidents do not recur.
“I have asked PLN to immediately implement measured and comprehensive steps to provide comfort to customers by ensuring there are no more blackouts. In other words, resolve these technical issues immediately, because all technical matters fall under the authority and control of PLN,” Bahlil stated in a press release, quoted on Monday (22/6/2026).
He further emphasised that PLN needs to conduct a thorough evaluation of its operational systems and ensure all processes run optimally. This is because appropriate mitigation steps are key to ensuring that similar disruptions are not experienced by the public again.
“I also spoke with the President Director earlier. I told him to immediately take measured steps so that unwanted events do not occur, including the blackouts complained about by the people. The ones operating the electricity are not the Director General of Electricity, nor us. We handle the regulation, while PLN carries out the operations,” he said.
On the other hand, Bahlil denied the assumption that the blackouts occurred due to a lack of fuel supply at several power plants. He asserted that, in general, the coal requirements for PLN have been anticipated through assignments to national coal companies.
“The total coal requirement for PLN is 154 million tonnes. From that 154 million, the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal has assigned national coal companies between 180 to 190 million tonnes, with 134 million tonnes already contracted, meaning there is only about 18 million left. Where is the shortage? Regarding the technical delivery to the power plants, that is not the duty of the Director General of Mineral and Coal. That falls under the technical logistics management of PLN,” Boded Bahlil.
Meanwhile, Darmawan revealed that the condition of the electricity system, particularly on the island of Java, has begun to show improvement after rolling blackouts occurred in several areas last week.
He stated this while heading to meet President Prabowo at the Palace. According to him, since Sunday, the condition of the electricity system in Java has started to improve.
“Regarding the rolling blackouts that occurred last week in Java, since yesterday, Sunday, the condition of the electricity system in Java has begun to improve, and rolling blackouts have been successfully minimised. We wish to apologise to the public for the inconvenience caused by these blackouts,” Darmawan said at the Palace on Monday (22/6/2026).
He explained that the supply of primary energy, which meets the specifications required by power plants—both owned by PLN and private Independent Power Producers (IPP)—has begun to flow again, thereby strengthening the resilience of the electricity system in Java.
Furthermore, two large power plants owned by PLN’s partners, which previously experienced technical disruptions and disconnected from the system, are currently in the process of recovery. One power plant has been successfully repaired and re-synchronised with the Java electricity system on Sunday night.
“And there is good news from last night; one large power plant has been successfully restored and synchronised with the Java electricity system and has begun supplying electricity to the system in Java,” he said.
Darmawan expressed his appreciation to the government, particularly the Ministry of ESDM and Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, for the support, guidance, and coordination provided during the electricity system recovery process.
“We are also improving the governance of the primary energy supply chain and strengthening power plants, both those owned by PLN and our partners, the Independent Power Producers. We are making an all-out effort, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in monitoring and mapping all our efforts so that the improvement of the reliability of the electricity system in Java can be maintained and even enhanced,” he said.