PLN-police sign deal to curb power theft

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State electricity company PT PLN signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Indonesian Police on Friday on curbing power theft, which has cost the company dearly.

"The MOU includes cooperation in safeguarding power installations and legal measures against those who steal electricity and other PLN assets," PLN president Eddie Widiono Suwondo was quoted by Antara as saying after signing the MOU.

The MOU was signed at PLN's office by Eddie and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

Eddy said that power theft cost the company Rp 1 trillion per year, or some 2 percent of the company's annual average revenue of Rp 50 trillion.

Fajar Istiono, the head of PLN's internal affairs division, explained that, prior to the MOU, the National Police often helped PLN secure its assets and arrested power thieves.

But the old practice was considered ineffective because it was not well-coordinated, he said.

Under the MOU terms, both sides will boost the coordination by setting up a joint team to arrange a new strategy to crack down on power theft as well as to safeguard PLN assets, he said.

"Once the cooperation goes into effect, it could ease bureaucracy constraints, and in the end, could accelerate the legal processing of power thieves," Fajar told The Jakarta Post.

Fajar said PLN was really concerned about the scale of power theft in the country and the fact that many people were smug about stealing power.

The most common method of stealing power by households is by connecting power house cables to PLN transmission cables along a street, thus bypassing a meter.

Others tamper with their meters to reduce their power charges.

Eddie said PLN had also lost many transmission cables and electricity poles across the country due to theft.

According to the 2002 Electricity Law, power theft carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 500 million.

Eddie said that aside from handling power theft, the police would also help deal with corruption cases within PLN.

One example is a corruption case in Surabaya, East Java, involving five PLN employees. The corruption has cost PLN about Rp 787 million.

Meanwhile, Da'i said that safeguarding PLN facilities and assets were of a paramount importance, especially those in conflict areas where a blackout could worsen security, he said.