Rolling Blackouts Disrupt Public Services, East Java Government Urges PLN to Improve Coordination

Rolling blackouts affecting several areas in East Java have begun to seriously impact the smooth operation of public service facilities, especially in the public safety sector. In response, the East Java Provincial Government has asked PT PLN (Persero) to coordinate earlier before implementing power cuts. Deputy Governor Emil Elestianto Dardak stressed that the rolling blackouts are highly disruptive to public services, particularly safety. Hospital operations and traffic light functions are among the most vulnerable sectors, potentially reducing service quality while increasing safety risks for citizens. As a precautionary measure, the provincial government is urging PLN to immediately coordinate with relevant agencies, in this case the East Java Energy and Mineral Resources Office, whenever there is a planned blackout. “The dangerous ones are railway crossings, traffic lights, the water utility PDAM, they feel the impact, and then hospitals. PLN has agreed that if there is a planned blackout, they must notify and coordinate with the relevant agencies,” Emil said in Surabaya on Monday. The provincial government has now instructed the Energy Office to act as the main coordinator in mapping strategic sectors. This step is taken so that related agencies can carry out early mitigation or anticipation when blackouts occur. Although PLN claims to have direct communication channels down to the village level, the provincial government will still evaluate the system’s effectiveness. “According to them, in every village there is actually already a cross-element WhatsApp group that notifies one to two hours before a blackout. But we must ensure whether it is truly effective,” Emil explained. He cited the importance of information transparency so that district and city governments can anticipate disruptions to PDAM services, as well as the Transportation Office to secure traffic light functions and PT KAI to prevent disruptions at railway crossings. “So that is our concern in the regional government. Of course, our concern is also the blackout itself, but we know that the PLN President Director and the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources are doing everything to restore supply,” he said. Based on collected data, a number of areas in East Java experienced blackouts due to an increase in peak load in the evening between 6pm and 9pm, reaching 445 MW. Nevertheless, Emil assured that the electricity situation is now gradually recovering. “But that was the position as of the day before yesterday, that this week the supply has been gradually increasing, so the need for rolling blackouts can be reduced. But 445 MW is at the peak, so our electricity graph is low in the morning, then high at night,” he concluded.