PLN's Bogor revenue shrinks

BOGOR (JP): The Bogor office of state electricity company PLN's monthly revenue has declined by Rp 4.5 billion (US$600,000) since May mainly due to the impact of the prolonged monetary crisis, a spokesman of the office said on Friday.

Nandang Sutedi told The Jakarta Post that many of PLN's major customers in the city had either cut down on usage or had stopped using electricity altogether. This was because they had been forced to sharply reduce their activities or they had gone bankrupt.

"Frankly speaking, we are having difficulties in marketing the excess electricity. We hope the crisis will end as soon as possible to enable us to market our product again," Nandang said.

He explained that the company had also suffered losses due to unpaid bills. "About 79,000 customers are unable to pay their bills, thereby causing PLN's Bogor office to suffer a cumulative loss of about Rp 8 billion," he said.

The number of PLN customers in Bogor reaches about 485,000, he said.

"The largest unpaid bill amounting to Rp 300 million is owed by the Bogor mayoralty office," he said.

Nandang said his office had sent payment requests to the customers, urging them to pay the bills as soon as possible. "If the customers do not respond after three reminders are sent, we will cut off their electricity," he said. (24/hhr)