Was power break really planned?

I have great doubts about the Minister of Mines and Energy's statement made in connection with the recent power failure, which appeared in Republika, Kompas, The Jakarta Post and Media Indonesia.

1. If it had been planned (the technical term is planned outage) then:

* There should have been an announcement about it and a time schedule.

* Preparations should have been made with generators and power distribution equipment in the interconnection system which would have prevented the power cut.

2. What happened on April 13, 1997, did not indicate a planned outage. We had no alternative, but to accept instead:

* No information about a power break, or possible failure as a result of a planned outage.

* The Surabaya plant suddenly unloaded 1,250 MW. This spontaneous cutoff of power could have been prevented if preparations had been made.

Conclusion: The incident on April 13, 1997 was not planned, and is called a forced outage. Hence, the statement that it was a planned blackout, as The Jakarta Post called it, is incorrect.

A. SIGIDPRAWIRO

Jakarta