Solo City Government Halts Electricity Bill Payments for Surakarta Palace
Solo City Government has suspended payment of electricity bills for Surakarta Palace (Keraton Surakarta) since January 2026.
According to a letter from the Solo City Culture and Tourism Department (Disbudpar) obtained by CNNIndonesia.com, Disbudpar has requested that PLN cease billing electricity costs from five accounts belonging to Surakarta Palace to the city government.
When contacted, Maretha Dinar Cahyono, Head of Disbudpar Solo, confirmed the report.
“That’s correct,” said Maretha when contacted by telephone on Monday (2 March).
She explained that the city government suspended electricity payments for the palace due to limited regional budget allocation. According to Maretha, the total electricity bills from the five accounts belonging to the palace exceed Rp19 million per month.
“Given our budget constraints,” she said.
Beyond budget limitations, the temporary suspension is also attributed to competing claims over palace leadership from several factions.
“Because of the dualism as well. But the main reason is the budget constraint,” she noted.
She stated that the suspension is temporary only. Disbudpar plans to submit a budget proposal to resume payments for Surakarta Palace electricity from April 2026 onwards.
“We’ll submit in March, hopefully we can pay from April,” she said.
According to Maretha, electricity bills for Surakarta Palace have been covered by Solo City’s regional budget (APBD). Disbudpar pays the bills from five electricity accounts in the palace’s name directly to PT PLN.
“The accounts are under the palace’s name but the department pays them,” she said.
The suspension letter was addressed to PT PLN. However, the city government also sent copies to three internal palace figures: KGPH Panembahan Agung Tedjowulan, SISKS Pakubuwana XIV Hangabehi, and SISKS Pakubuwana XIV Purbaya.
“We sent copies to all three,” said Maretha.
Furthermore, Maretha stated that her office received information that the palace’s electricity bill for January 2026 had already been paid.
“After receiving the suspension notice, someone from the palace came to settle that bill,” she said.
However, she admitted not knowing which faction had made the payment.
“I don’t yet know which side paid. You could ask PLN,” she said.