The Jakarta governor will issue instructions to city offices to cut down on their power consumption amid the current shortage that has left Jakarta with a program of rotating blackouts for the past two months.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo will issue a circular instructing all buildings to reduce power use, economic affairs secretary Mara Oloan Siregar said after a meeting with PLN on Tuesday.
The move was intended to set an example for other businesses around Jakarta, Mara said.
“We’re calling on [everyone] to reduce their electricity use so the rotating blackouts can be minimized,” he said.
State electricity provider PT PLN introduced the rotating schedule of blackouts affecting different areas of Jakarta at different times after two of the company’s facilities in Cawang, East Jakarta, and Kembangan, West Jakarta, malfunctioned and were razed by fires.
City offices could reduce their power consumption by turning off air conditioners in unused rooms, and turning off unnecessary lights, Mara said.
PLN Greater Jakarta and Tangerang general manager Purnomo Willy said his company had finished repairing the facility in West Jakarta. “There will be no more blackouts in West Jakarta,” he said.
“East Jakarta, however, will still face blackouts, because we still need time to repair the Cawang facility.
“[The repair work] will be completed by mid-December.”
PLN and the city administration plan to hold a meeting with businesses on Wednesday to persuade them to reduce their power consumption during the daytime, and where possible to use their own generators, Purnomo said.
“Some shopping malls are still using electricity carelessly,” he said.
Meanwhile, many hotels have complained they have suffered losses because of the blackouts.
Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairwoman SB Wiryanti Sukamdani said the blackouts had disrupted association members’ business considerably.
“Hotel guests pay for facilities such as air conditioning and hot water when they check in,” Wiryanti said during the PHRI Jakarta chapter seminar on Tuesday.
“[The blackouts] are very destructive [to the equipment],” Wiryanti said.
Several hotels had resorted to using their own generators, she said.
Diesel fuel for generators costs around Rp 6,900 (70 US cents) per liter. The initial cost of equipping a hotel with a generator is also high, Wiryanti said. “A 300-KVA generator costs some Rp 2 billion and the average hotel needs around 400 KVA,” she said. (dis)
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