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.