Bahlil Guarantees No More Power Cuts, PLN's Coal Supply Remains Secure

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia has confirmed there are no plans for power outages in the future. “God willing, no,” Bahlil told reporters at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs in Jakarta on Thursday (18/6/2026). Bahlil, together with Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, discussed strategies to ensure maximum electricity services for the public. One of the discussions concerned the compensation and subsidy payment scheme for PT PLN (Persero) so that the company has adequate financial capacity to supply electricity. “So, in general, it has been discussed, there is no problem,” he said. He also explained that PLN’s total coal requirement reaches 154 million metric tonnes per year. To date, PLN has secured contracts for 134 million tonnes, leaving a shortfall of only around 20 million tonnes. The Energy Minister has also formed a procurement team for medium-calorie coal to overcome PLN’s constraints in meeting the needs of its power plants. “In order to supervise primary energy so this does not continue, we formed a procurement team. PLN, the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal, and BPKP,” Bahlil said during a Working Meeting with Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (15/6/2026). According to Bahlil, PLN is constrained in meeting its medium-calorie coal needs because the selling price to PLN is relatively low. Companies sell coal to PLN with reference to the domestic market obligation (DMO) price of 70 US dollars per tonne. Meanwhile, the Coal Reference Price (HBA) for the first period of June 2026 was set at 121.83 US dollars per tonne. Regarding this issue, Bahlil admitted he had received directives from President Prabowo Subianto to coordinate with PLN, the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal (Ditjen Minerba) of the Ministry of ESDM, and the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) regarding the fulfilment of PLN’s coal needs. “This (formation of the team) is so there is no deceit among us. We are tired of saying one thing here, another thing there, writing one thing, reading another, doing something else. I know there is something, but enough. We all understand each other, the important thing is we provide the best service for the country,” Bahlil said.