Sumatra Blackout Prompts Police Investigation

JAKARTA — A mass power outage affecting several regions in Sumatra on Friday (22 May 2026) evening not only disrupted public activities but also drew the attention of law enforcement authorities. Following the blackout across multiple provinces, the Indonesian National Police (Polri), through its Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim), has launched an investigation into the cause of the power system disruption. Power outages were reported starting around 6:44 PM WIB in several areas of Riau Province. Simultaneously, disruptions were felt in other parts of Sumatra, including North Sumatra, Aceh, Jambi, West Sumatra, Lampung, and parts of South Sumatra. Several areas experienced complete blackouts due to the halt in power supply. The incident has also raised public questions about the cause of the centrally coordinated disruption. Initially, PT PLN (Persero) stated that the disruption originated from the transmission and power generation systems in Sumatra’s grid. “We apologise for the inconvenience. Preliminary information indicates that at 6:44 PM WIB, the North and Central Sumatra transmission systems separated, causing a total blackout in North Sumatra,” PLN stated, as reported by Antara. PLN added that the separation of the North and Central Sumatra power systems caused distribution disruptions and triggered outages in several regions.