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Jakarta Post

PLN projects lower electricity consumption over coronavirus

  Indonesia’s electricity consumption is projected to fall between 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent in 2020 from 245.52 terawatts-hours (TWh) because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta
Thu, March 26, 2020

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 PLN projects lower electricity consumption over coronavirus Several technicians of state-owned electricity company PLN replace a damaged isolator in Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)

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tate-owned electricity company PLN projects lower consumption by corporate users this year as worries over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus has caused a significant decline in trade and industrial activities.

PLN's executive vice president in charge of marketing and customer service, Edison Sipahutar, estimates electricity consumption will fall between 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent in 2020  from 245.52 terawatt-hours (TWh), assuming sluggish factory, office and retail activities continue over the next nine months.

“Household electricity consumption will increase but we also expect a decrease in business and industry consumption,” Edison told The Jakarta Post on Monday (23/3).

He said that, next month alone, household consumption is projected to rise by up to 2 percent while industrial and business consumption decreases as much as 2.4 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

In boosting industrial consumption, Edison said the electricity company would introduce discounts for off-peak hour usage and for customers who switch from privately owned power sources to PLN. He also said PLN “was considering” rolling out an electricity bill installment scheme for affected industrial customers.

Growing electricity consumption is critical for the financial continuity of Indonesia’s sole electricity distribution company. PLN is currently struggling to weather a power oversupply arising from Indonesia’s lower-than-expected economic growth, which was only made worse by the pandemic.

Bank Indonesia on March 19 revised the country’s economic growth target to a maximum 4.6 percent this year from 5.4 percent previously.

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