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Power crisis hits North Sulawesi, Gorontalo
Recurrent blackouts that have hit North Sulawesi and Gorontalo over the past several weeks have disrupted the activities of local residents and regional administrations
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ecurrent blackouts that have hit North Sulawesi and Gorontalo over the past several weeks have disrupted the activities of local residents and regional administrations. The ongoing power crisis has also led to widespread criticism of the service provision of state-owned electricity company PT PLN in the areas.
PT PLN's North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo (Sulutenggo) regional office has imposed rolling blackouts for around four hours daily since last month, citing a shortfall in electricity supply.
The power deficit has also been exacerbated by the decreasing water level in Lake Tondano, which supplies water for the company's steam-powered electricity plants (PLTU), due to the prolonged dry season that has hit many parts of the country.
The power crisis has worsened recently with many parts of North Sulawesi experiencing daily 12-hour power outages this week.
Gorontalo experienced a blackout for around seven hours on Tuesday, and had power outages throughout the evening the next day.
On Tuesday, acting North Sulawesi governor Soni Sumarsono had to cut short his speech during an official meeting with regents and mayors from across the province after three consecutive blackouts.
'What happened to me was nothing, as the blackouts took place when I was making a speech. Imagine when it happens to the poor, working to make ends meet,' said Soni, who expressed his disappointment to the participants of the meeting.
Acting East Bolaang Mongondow Regent Muhammad Ruddy Mokoginta said that mayors and regents from the province had agreed on Tuesday's meeting to support the provincial administration's plan to ask the North Sulawesi Prosecutors' Office (Kejati) to audit PLN's Sulutenggo office.
'[The Kejati] will assess whether the specifications of PLN's equipment are in accordance with those mentioned in their buying contracts,' he said.
PLN Sulutenggo spokesperson Dermawan Amir Uloli said that Monday's blackouts were due to transmission disturbance between the company's Lopana and Kawangkoan power substations.
'We apologize for the discomfort,' he said, adding that the company expected to see the power supply return to normal by this week.
