Low power supply causes blackout

Low power supply causes blackout

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: The recent blackout in some areas in
South Sumatra and the neighboring provinces of Lampung, Bengkulu
and Jambi was caused by an insufficient electric power supply, an
official said here on Friday.

The head of the regional office of state electricity company
PLN serving the four provinces, Samsul Arifin, was quoted by
Antara as saying that the inadequacy forced the company to
schedule the blackout between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the
territories.

He said the company fell short by between 20 and 30 megawatts
of electric power to fulfill the minimum supply of 435 megawatts
for industries, offices and domestic use.

"We call on customers to understand our problem and not to
resort to attacking our office," Samsul said. He was responding
to an attack by some people on the company's office in Pangkal
Pinang on Bangka island on Wednesday evening. The incident
followed four straight days of blackouts.

Samsul said PLN was planning to rent a diesel-powered electric
generator, and to purchase electricity from state oil and gas
company Pertamina and large factories. (08)