L

ampung residents are likely to continue suffering from rotating blackouts imposed by state-owned power company PT PLN until mid-September following damage to steam power plant PLTU Tarahan III in South Lampung.

Hundreds of angry residents in Central Lampung attacked PLN'€™s Bandarjaya office on Sept. 1, pelting stones at the building and smashing windows to express their disappointment.

'€œPeople were angry because there was no power for a whole night the day before. Power was out for around 12 hours. That was the longest blackout ever,'€ said Marsono, a Bandarjaya resident.

Muhammad Yunus, executive director of the Lampung Anti-Corruption Committee (Koak), said that a number of lawyers would file a lawsuit against the local PLN office for failing to fulfill the rights of its customers.

'€œPLN is so strict in dealing with customers who fail to pay their bills on time, but on the other hand, it often imposes rotating blackouts. Customers have a weak position here,'€ Muhammad said.

PLN Lampung manager Nawaludin said that PLN had to impose rotating blackouts due to a power deficit at PLTU Tarahan III.

He added that the South Sumatra-Lampung transmission network had also been damaged.

'€œDamage was detected in Baturaja, South Sumatera, in mid-August, followed by damage at the Bukit Kemuning'€”Kotabumi transmission in North Lampung,'€ said Nawaludin on Tuesday.

'€œPower should return to normal by Sept. 17,'€ he continued, adding that his officers were struggling to fix powerhouses at Baturaja and PLTU Tarahan. He suggested customers conserve power to deal with this issue.

According to data at PLN Tanjungkarang, Lampung needs a capacity of 1,000 MW to supply power to its 1.3 million inhabitants, while the province currently only has a capacity of 600 MW.

Meanwhile, deputy manager of the Law and Public Relations division at PLN Lampung, I Ketut Darpa, said PLN needed to impose such rotating blackouts as it was carrying out maintenance on PLTU Tarahan Unit III and Geothermal Power Plant (PLTP) Ulu Belu Unit I in Tanggamus regency until Sept. 17.

 '€œThe two power plants cannot be operated during that period of time. On the other hand, we cannot rely on hydropower Plant [PLTA] Way Besai and PLTA Batutegi due to minimal water flow,'€ Darpa said.

To generate more power in the province, Darpa said that PLN Lampung would speed up work on PLTU Gunung Sugih, which is to start operations at the end of September, and PLTU Sebalang, which is expected to start operating by the end of this year.

Lampung is not the only region facing a power crisis. Three other provinces -- West Sumatra, Riau and Jambi-- are also suffering from a serious power crisis that is expected to last until October or November.