Legislator criticizes electricity hike plan
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.