Minister Bahlil Addresses Rotating Power Outages Across Several Regions

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia has stated he is paying full attention to the rotating power outages implemented by PT PLN (Persero) in several regions. In essence, Bahlil has asked PLN to immediately take measured and comprehensive mitigation steps so that similar incidents do not recur. “I have heard information that rotating outages have occurred in several areas. I ask PLN to immediately take measured, comprehensive steps to provide comfort for customers with no more outages. In other words, resolve this technical issue immediately, because all technical matters are under PLN’s authority and control,” Bahlil said in a press release, quoted on Monday (22/6/2026). Bahlil stressed that PLN needs to conduct a thorough evaluation of its operational systems and ensure all processes run optimally. According to him, appropriate mitigation measures are key to preventing the public from experiencing similar disruptions again. “I also spoke with the President Director earlier. I said to immediately take measured steps so that undesirable things do not happen, including the outages that the people are complaining about. It is not the Directorate General of Electricity that operates the electricity, not us. We handle the regulation, while the executor is PLN,” he said. Bahlil also conveyed that he had communicated directly with PLN’s President Director to push for faster and more measured actions to ensure the electricity system returns to normal. “While I was on the road earlier, I spoke with the President Director. I told him to immediately take measured mitigation steps so that undesirable things do not happen, including the outages complained about by the people. The government has been firm, now it is up to PLN to realise it immediately,” he said. On the other hand, Bahlil dismissed the notion that the outages occurred due to a lack of fuel supply at several power plants. He asserted that, in general, PLN’s coal requirements have been anticipated through assignments to national coal companies. “PLN’s total coal requirement is 154 million tonnes. Of that 154 million, the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal has given assignments to national coal companies amounting to 180 to 190 million tonnes, of which 134 million tonnes have been contracted, meaning only about 18 million tonnes remain. Where is the shortage? The technical aspect of getting it to the power plant is not the task of the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal. That is purely the technical logistics management of PLN,” Bahlil explained. The government has urged PLN to immediately resolve the technical issues causing the outages and to strengthen its operational supervision and mitigation systems. This is to ensure that electricity services to the public can return to normal, be reliable, and provide comfort for customers in various regions.