West Sumatra electricity starts to recover as PLN says 60 percent of the system is online

West Sumatra’s PLN UID Sumatera Barat has confirmed that all substations in the province are now energised following a grid fault that occurred on Friday night (22 May 2026). The fault caused power outages across parts of West Sumatra.

‘As of 05:00 WIB, 60 percent of the system has recovered, and we are continuing to work to restore full operation to 100 percent,’ said Ajrun Karim, General Manager of PLN UID Sumbar, when contacted in Padang on Saturday, 23 May 2026.

The feeders still out of service are distributed across Padang city, Padang Pariaman Regency, Tanah Datar Regency, Pasaman Regency, Pasaman Barat Regency, Limapuluh Kota Regency, Payakumbuh city, Padang Panjang city, Solok, Solok Selatan, Sijunjung Regency, and Dharmasraya Regency.

PLN UID Sumbar says the restoration process is ongoing to return electricity supply to normal. Ajrun also stressed that the province’s electrical condition remains safe, particularly for low- and medium-voltage networks. Nevertheless, field personnel are working to normalise a number of feeders. ‘All substations are energised; the next step is loading at each feeder point,’ he added.

The preliminary suspicion is that the electrical system fault originated in Jambi Province. The fault also affected Aceh, North Sumatra, and Riau. Since the fault occurred, PLN has deployed technical teams to inspect the entire system and network. The teams are also tracing the cause of the fault. PLN urges the public to stay calm and not panic. Developments in addressing the fault will be communicated periodically through the PLN Mobile app and the PLN 123 contact centre.

Meanwhile, Asna, a resident of Bukittinggi, said electricity in her area was on between 01:00 and 03:00 WIB. She hopes supply will return to full normality. ‘At 01:00 this morning I checked and the electricity hadn’t come on, but by 03:00 WIB it was on,’ she said.