PLN suffers Rp 880b annually

JAKARTA: State electricity company PLN said it was losing about Rp 880 billion a year due to power theft in Jakarta and Tangerang.

The general manager of PLN's business division for Jakarta and Tangerang, Margo Santoso PS, said the company would launch an operation to fight power theft in Jakarta and Tangerang on Aug. 1.

He added that it was hoped the new program would reduce the theft from 11 percent of all power sold to between 8 percent and 9 percent.

Annually, the company earned Rp 8 trillion from the sale of power.

If it is able to reduce the power losses by just 1 percent, the company would be able to save Rp 80 billion, Antara reported him as saying.

Margo also threatened those caught stealing the power with court.

Power theft is taking place not only in large businesses but also in households. The thefts even tend to increase in middle to upper-income households, he said. --JP