Fear of blackouts makes energy conservation drive a success

Fear of blackouts makes energy conservation drive a success

Remmy Faizal, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Moses has been turning a few lights off in his home in the
evening over the past several days.

The call to save energy to avoid extensive blackouts in
Jakarta due to electricity shortages has become his main concern
now.

"I'm a little worried about my fish. They'll die if the
aerator goes off long enough," said the resident of Pondok Gede,
East Jakarta, arguing that his eight pairs of goldfish are
extremely sensitive to changes of conditions in the tank.

"Not to mention the scheduled blackout hours are usually at
the time I do my school assignments. They say its only going to
be one-and-a-half hours. What if it's more?"

Although the energy-saving campaign has been in the media
since last week, Moses said he heard of it from friends. "The
dissemination of such important information is very poor."

Regardless of Moses fear of inconvenience, Jakartans were
apparently complying with the government's call to switch off at
least two bulbs, or equal to 50 watts, during peak hours from 5
p.m. to 10 p.m. starting last Wednesday until June 6, as the
state electricity company PLN was expected to finish construction
work at its Muara Karang and Tanjung Priok plants, which powers
the Jawa-Bali grid.

The Jakarta administration itself only turned on street lamps
and lamps used for outdoor billboard advertisements after 8 p.m.
and reduced the use of air-conditioners.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
even applauded the public who he said made it unnecessary for PLN
to implement rolling blackouts across the capital.

However, uncertainty about blackouts is starting to bother
some Jakartans.

Misdi, a resident of Meruya, West Jakarta, believed that an
evening without enough light equals crime.

"Young people in my neighborhood might be tempted to do
something unpleasant," the noodle maker, who usually work at
night, complained.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairperson Indah
Suksmaningsih questioned why the blackouts had to be scheduled at
the same time that students were preparing for their final exams.

"It's a discomforting thought for parents," she said, adding
that people are entitled to some sort of compensation.

Indah suggested that the next month's electricity bills should
be reduced.

"PLN should offer better service to the public rather than
just looking at them from a business point of view," she told The
Jakarta Post.

"Consumers are fined whenever they are late in paying bills,
but we never get any explanations, let alone apologies, if the
power to our homes is cut off," she added.

The Legal Aid Institute for Consumers (LBH Konsumen) even
planned to sue PLN for up to Rp 1 trillion, with the lawsuit
being filed one week after a blackout.

"PLN is supposed to be more professional in carrying its
duties. They should no longer handle things with obsolete
technology that only causes consumers to suffer," LBH Konsumen
chairman Raja Nasution was quoted as saying by Detikcom on
Thursday.