Power blackout irks Medan residents

Power blackout irks Medan residents

Apriadi Gunawan
The Jakarta Post/Medan

The sun had just set. Sugiran and his family were having dinner
together, with various dishes set on the dinner table. But
suddenly, while eating, the lights go out.

Spontaneously, every member of the family cries out: "Oh no,
the lights are out." Then, everybody stops eating.

"This is insane. The state electricity company is awful,"
Sugiran grumbles while asking one of his children to go get
candles to bring light back into the dinner table.

Fortunately, the family still keeps candles in the house. The
children light three candles, one for the dinner table and the
others for the living room. The three candles are certainly not
enough to illuminate the house. The house is still blanketed in
darkness.

The blackout hasn't only hit Sugiran's house but very house
and shop located in the Medan Baru and Medang Selayang areas.

And this is not the first time. Residents in the two areas are
disappointed as power blackouts have been happening frequently
recently. According to some residents, power blackouts have
occurred more that 15 times since May 3.

"The power blackouts last for two hours at the shortest.
Sometimes it takes over four hours (for power to return). It has
cost people a lot, especially for me, who provide Internet
services," said Resi, an owner of an Internet cafe in Medan Baru
district, Medan.

The power blackouts didn't only happen at night, but also
frequently occurred in the morning and afternoon.

Joki Batubara, the owner of a welding workshop, said that the
power blackouts had caused delays to his project. He said that he
was handling a welding project worth Rp 45 million (US$4,750) and
it had to be completed within two months.

"But, due to the power blackout problem, I am pessimistic that
the project can meet the deadline," he said.

Joki complained that the blackouts had cost them a lot as due
to the delays he had increase his budget for meal allowances and
wages for his employees.

Separately, spokesman of PT PLN West Sumatra operations
Maradjohan Batubara explained that the power blackouts were not
only happening in Medan, but also in other parts of Sumatra
island, such as Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

The power blackouts began on May 3 and would last until June
16.

"The power blackouts have hit the area because we are doing
maintenance jobs, a major overhaul, to power plant turbines in
Sicanang and Belawan areas," said Maradjohan. He said that the
company rotated the power blackouts during the peak power
capacity period between 6 p.m and 10 p.m. During peak hours, the
power peak capacity rises to 1,060 Megawatts while the available
capacity is only 1,050 Megawatts, said Maradjohan. "We have no
other option other than to rotate the blackouts," said
Maradjohan.

The complaints about blackouts in Medan comes amid PT PLN's
plan for rolling blackouts in Java and Bali. The company plans
the blackouts as work on lines connecting BP Plc's Offshore
Northwest Java field would cut power supplies to the 500 Megawatt
PLTGU Muara Karang and the 1,100 Megawatt PLTGU Tanjung Priok
generators, which supply the Java-Bali power network.

The blackouts did not materialize on Monday, as power demand
was still below the capacity produced by PT PLN.