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)