PLN agrees price cuts

PLN agrees price cuts

JAKARTA: PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Indonesia's state
utility company, reached agreement on price cuts or buyouts with
26 independent power producers, Energy and Mineral Resources
Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.

"By reaching agreements with 26 producers, we are able to
show the market that we can settle our dispute and that private
producers can operate in this country," Purnomo told reporters
after a cabinet meeting.

The utility has been trying to renegotiate power purchase
agreements amounting to US$133 billion over 30 years with 27
independent producers, mostly backed by overseas investors, after
the Indonesian rupiah's collapse during the Asian financial crisis
in 1998 forced PLN to sell electricity to consumers at a loss. --
Bloomberg