Legislator criticizes electricity hike plan
Moch N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government's proposal for new power price rises next year drew strong criticism from a legislator Thursday, who said the increase in power charges for low-income customers contravened the agreement between the House of Representatives and the government.
"It can't be like that. We will ask them (the government) to explain it," Saul de Ornay of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said.
According to Saul, the House and the government had agreed last month to increase power charges by an average of six percent every three months next year, with an exception being made for low-income customers living in houses with installed power capacity of 450 voltamperes (VA).
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced on Wednesday new power price proposals for next year, under which 450 VA customers will have to pay on average a 14.5 percent increase for every quarter of next year.
Customers with installed capacity of 450 VA account for around 67 percent of PLN's 28.9 million customers.
Director General of Electricity and Energy Utilization Luluk Sumiarso said that despite such hefty increases, the power prices payable by low-income households would still be lower than the production costs of state electricity company PT PLN.
"Although low-income customers will have to pay the largest increase, the prices will remain affordable in nominal terms," he said.
Middle-income households with installed power capacity of 2,200 VA will only have to pay on average an eight percent increase for every quarter of next year.
The new pricing arrangements, if approved by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, will come into force in January.
Legislator Agusman Effendi of the Golkar faction, however, said that the price increases were generally speaking fair.
"We have to realize that PLN must increase its charges if we want to reduce the government's subsidy," he said.
The government has allocated Rp 4.1 trillion in subsidies to PLN for next year, down from Rp 4.7 trillion this year.