West Java Economy Revitalised, PLN Jabar Business and Industrial Customers Grow by 11.32 Per Cent
The business and industrial sectors in West Java have continued to demonstrate positive development throughout the first semester of 2ability 2026. This is evidenced by the year-on-year growth in the number of business and industrial customers served by PT PLN (Persero) West Java Distribution Unit (UID).
The number of business customers reached 1,054,347, a growth of 11.32 per cent compared to the first semester of 2025, which recorded 947,135 customers. Meanwhile, industrial customers increased by 8.38 per cent, rising from 19,157 to 20,762 customers during the same period.
According to the General Manager of PT PLN (Persero) UID West Java, Muhammad Joharifin, the growth in business and industrial customers is one of the indicators of expanding productive activities in West Java. PLN continues to match this growth by ensuring the readiness of electrical infrastructure and improving service quality for the business world.
“The growth of business and industrial customers shows that productive activities in West Java continue to develop. For PLN, this serves as a drive to continue ensuring that customers’ electricity needs can be met with services that are increasingly easy, fast, and reliable, so that business activities can run and develop well,” said Joharifin.
This growth in the productive sector also runs parallel with the investment surge in West Java. Based on data from the West Java Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Agency (DPMPTSP), investment realisation throughout the first semester of 2026 reached Rp138.13 trillion, with a labour absorption of 246,887 people. This achievement positions West Java as one of the primary investment destinations in Indonesia and the province with the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) realisation in the first semester of this year.
Joharifin explained that the growth of the business world needs to be balanced with the availability of adequate electricity and ease of obtaining electrical services. In addition to maintaining the reliability of supply, PLN continues to improve the quality of the service process so that customers’ electricity needs can be met quickly and in accordance with their business requirements.
“PLN wants to ensure that the growth of the business world in West Java is accompanied by adequate electrical service readiness. When business actors need electricity to start, increase capacity, or expand their businesses, we are ready to provide electrical support according to their needs,” added Johante.
According to Joharifin, the availability of reliable electricity plays a vital role in maintaining productivity and opening space for the business world to continue growing. Therefore, PLN UID West Java will continue to strengthen electrical infrastructure and improve service quality in line with the growing needs of customers.
“Electricity is not only an operational necessity but also one of the drivers of economic activity. We hope that easier access to electricity for the community and business actors can support increased productivity, business growth, and provide wider economic benefits for the people of West Java,” said Joharifin.
Meanwhile, Public Policy Observer at Padjadjaran University (Unpad), Bonti Wiradinata, assessed that the reliability of the electricity supply is a crucial factor in strengthening regional competitiveness and supporting the investment climate.
Bonti stated that for the business world, the issue of electricity does not stop at whether a supply exists or not. Business actors require reliable electricity that meets the needs of economic activities. “Electricity for the business world is not just about presence or absence, but about the reliability of that electricity,” said Bini.
According to him, electricity has become part of various economic activities, ranging from industry and MSMEs to hospitals, data centres, agriculture, and fisheries.
The nature of these needs, he noted, differs in every sector. Industrial areas require electricity for production processes, the agricultural sector utilises it for irrigation and processing results, while the fisheries sector requires electricity for cold storage facilities. “Therefore, electrical reliability must be viewed as part of the economic infrastructure and the competitiveness of the region and the country,” he said.
Bonti assessed that the development of these needs needs to be anticipated through long-term electricity planning. He noted that the 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) accounts for the development of several strategic sectors, including industrial zones, downstreaming, data centres, electric vehicles, and various other strategic projects.
At the regional level, he said, these needs must be translated through the readiness of the electrical system in accordance with the development of economic centres. In West Java, one illustration of this need is seen in the support of PLN UID Jabar for industrial customers with large power requirements. PLN supplies 250 MVA of electricity to IKPP Karawang to support the company’s expansion.
According to Bonti, the alignment between energy needs and economic development requires synergy between PLN, the central government, local governments, and the business world. “If all that data is integrated, we can build electricity with the right capacity, at the right location, and at the right time,” said Bonti.
Bonti assessed that such planning is important so that infrastructure development does not run separately from the direction of regional economic development. Furthermore, the benefits of electricity should be viewed through its utilisation for productive activities. “The approach needs to change from ‘electricity entering’ to ‘electricity generating’,” he said.