PLN-police sign deal to curb power theft

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.