Electricity Price Unchanged Until June

Jakarta. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has decided to keep electricity
prices steady for the next three months, as state utility company Perusahaan Listrik
Negara can absorb some of the costs, an official said on Wednesday (22/03).

The government calculates electricity prices based on the country's benchmark oil price,
Indonesian Crude Price (ICP), US dollar exchange rate against the rupiah, and inflation
rate.

"These parameters can go up or down, but the [the costs] can still be covered by PLN,"
said Jarman, the ministry's director general for electricity.

About 39 percent of Indonesia's electricity is generated from imported diesel oil and gas,
the ministry data showed, hence the need for adjustment in the crude oil price and
exchange rate. About half of Indonesia's power is generated by coal plants; the
remaining energy comes from renewable sources.

As the government increased the electricity price in December by about 1 percent, the
ICP has gone up 2.7 percent to $52.5 a barrel. Inflation has accelerated as well, with
the last reading of 3.83 percent in February, compared to 3.5 in December.

Rupiah, however, gained 0.7 percent since the beginning of the year, as the country
managed to narrow its current account balance — the widest measure of goods and
services, trade, as well as remittance transfers.

The World Bank warned on Wednesday morning that possible increase in electricity
price could push inflation to 4.3 percent.
PLN Starts Construction of Gas Insulated
Switchgear High-Voltage Substation in
Tambun
Bekasi. State utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara kicked off construction of a Rp
1 trillion ($2.85 billion) gas-insulated switchgear high-voltage substation in Tambun,
Bekasi, West Java, on Friday (03/03).

The 500-kilovolt substation, built on 5.3 hectares, is expected to be operational by 2018.

Murtaqi Syamsuddin, PLN's business director for West Java, said financing for the
project will come from the company's internal cash, with Rp 850 billion towards
construction and Rp 150 billion for land acquisition.

He said the facility will ensure a reliable electricity supply for Tambun and Bekasi, which
are home to many industrial estates.
PLN Secures $435m Financing From Foreign
Export Credit Agencies for Mobile Power
Plant Projects
Jakarta. State utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara, or PLN, has secured $435
million in financing from Canadian and Hungarian export credit agencies to develop
eight mobile power plant projects with a total capacity of 500 megawatts.

PLN's finance director, Sarwono Sudarto, said on Sunday (04/12) that representatives
from Export Development Canada and Hungarian Export-Import Bank met with PLN
executives at its headquarters to sign the financing deal.

Sarwono explained that financing doesn't require a government guarantee and offering
fixed interest rates that help minimalize soaring interest costs.

Sarwono said PLN plans to develop 500-megwatt mobile power plant projects in eight
locations such as, in Lampung province (4x25 megwatts); Pontianak in West
Kalimantan, (4x25 megwatts); Bangka in Bangka Belitung (2x25 megwatts); Riau
province (3x25 megwatts), Belitung in Bangka Belitung (25 megwatts); Ampenan in
West Nusa Tenggara (2x25 megwatts); Paya Pasir in North Sumatera (3x25 megwatts);
and Nias in North Sumatera (25 megwatts).

These projects are part of the government's ambitious target to add an additional
35,000 megawatts of power to the national grid by 2019.

A mobile power plant is a truck-mounted gas-fired fleet built by American diversified

conglomerate General Electric that can be mobilized to provide electricity to remote
areas.

The mobile power plant is set to be operational in January 2017.

KPK to Probe Into 34 Neglected Power Plant
Projects
Jakarta. The national antigraft agency will form a special team to probe into allegations
of corruption involving 34 neglected power plant projects across the country, at the
request of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“We know that the 35,000 megawatt electricity target has cost the state a lot. It is
necessary to monitor [the projects] since the president has also requested that. We will
respond as soon as possible,” Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy
chairwoman, Basaria Pandjaitan, told reporters at the KPK headquarters in Jakarta, on
Wednesday (02/11).

The 34 projects, managed by Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and other state-owned
enterprises, appear to have been neglected for at least seven years.

However, Basaria treaded with caution saying that it is important to determine what
really happened since “Not all neglected projects mean that corruption is involved.”

On Tuesday, Jokowi requested the State Finance Development Comptroller (BPKP) to

review audit reports of the power plant projects to determine whether there are any
irregularities.

“It is a matter of trillions of rupiah in state funding, we can’t just let it go,” the president
said during a cabinet meeting earlier on Tuesday.

Jokowi conceded that one or two of the projects were discontinued due to damage
caused by unfavorable weather conditions, but the KPK has been instructed to conduct
investigations into all of the projects.

Jokowi has set an ambitious target to add an additional 35,000 megawatts of power to
the national grid by 2019 and increase the country's electrification rate to above 95
percent by 2020, in order to attract more investment.
PLN Signs $294m Deal With Mitsubishi,
Wijaya Karya for Muara Karang Extension
Jakarta. State utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara, better known as PLN, is
confident that it can complete an extension of the Muara Karang power plant, which
supplies electricity the greater Jakarta area, by 2019, after signing a Rp 3.9 trillion ($294
million) deal with a contractor.

PLN and a consortium of Japan's Mitsubishi and state-owned construction company

Wijaya Karya signed the engineering, procurement, and construction contracts at the
utility company's headquarters in Jakarta on Monday (29/08).

The expansion of the Muara Karang gas-powered plant will increase its capacity by 500
megawatts, PLN's director for the West Java region, Murtaqi Syamsuddin, said on
Wednesday. The current capacity is 1,200 MW.

Murtaqi signed the contract with Naoki Hirooka, Power Systems International
Mitsubishi's manager for Asean and Southeast Asia, and Wijaya Karya operations
director Bambang Pramujo.

Naoki thanked PLN for trusting the Mitsubishi-Wijaya Karya consortium to handle this
project.

The expansion of the Muara Karang power plant is one of the projects supporting
Indonesia's goal to increase electricity production by 35,000 MW before the end of 2019
in order to boost investment and manufacturing capacity in Southeast Asia's largest
economy.
High Powered
Workers are pictured replacing insulators on an extra high voltage air line on a
Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) tower in Cilegon, Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday
(26/07). As of June 2016, PLN has built electric circuit transmission units covering
a 2,792 kilometer stretch. Additionally in an effort to accelerate the development of its
35,000 megawatt project, transmission units covering a 16,712 kilometers stretch are in
the construction phase and transmission units covering a 27,093 kilometer stretch have
yet to be constructed. (Antara Photo/Muhammad Adimaja)
PLN Calls for Additional Electric Subsidy in
2017 State Budget
Jakarta. State electric company PLN has called for an additional electric subsidy to be
included in the 2017 State Budget, after the House of Representatives rejected a
proposal to add Rp 18.30 trillion ($1.37 billion) to the 2016 State Budget revision
submitted by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

According to PLN director Sofyan Basir the subsidy has been included in the current
account, as it would be impossible to undo its application.

Sofyan has called on the budget to be included within next year’s state budget.

“Maybe it should be input in next year’s budget, as it would be impossible not to pay
them. If it is not paid this year, it should be paid within the next year, as we still have not
billed it [to customers] in June, we yet to cut it,” Sofyan said in Jakarta on Saturday
(18/06).

Energy Minister Sudirman Said had proposed an additional budget of Rp 18.30 trillion,
adding to the current allocation of Rp 56.68 trillion, in the revised 2016 State Budget.
GE Sets Up Gas Turbines for 100-MW
Electricity Project in Gorontalo
Jakarta. General Electric has set up turbines for a 100-megawatt gas-fueled power
plant in Gorontalo province this week, marking the company's first electricity project as
part of Indonesia's grand plan to increase its power capacity to 35,000 megawatts by
2020.

The four TM2500 aeroderivative gas turbines have been installed at state utility
company Perusahaan Listrik Negara's power plant in Paguat, Pahuwato district.

GE claims that the turbines can be installed much faster than other power generators,
taking only six months from initial construction to becoming fully operational.

"Our technology has been successfully installed in various countries such as Egypt,
Algeria, Greece and Japan," GE Indonesia chief executive Handry Satriago said in a
statement. "GE's aeroderivative turbines' easy installation makes it ideal for application
in remote areas."

Output from the four turbines will be used to maintain voltage stability and meet
Sulawesi's electricity needs.
Uncertainty Surrounds Jawa 7 Power Project
Jakarta. Construction of a $2 billion coal-fired power plant in Banten faces uncertainty,
with an inquiry into the tender process now underway, as well as a reclamation project
near the site that threatens to undermine the effectiveness of the plant's cooling system.

The 2,000 megawatt power plant, Jawa 7, is to be developed by China Shenhua Energy
Company and Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali, a subsidiary of state utility firm Perusahaan
Listrik Negara (PLN).

However, the House of Representatives created a special committee to investigate the

tender process in February, after finding that the winning consortium had been
eliminated in the early stages of the process for not submitting estimates for
engineering, procurement and construction costs.

Property developers have also launched reclamation projects in the area, which would
ultimately undermine the effectiveness of the cooling process.

"We will continue to look into this and will announce the result [of the investigation] to
the public. If there are any violations, the project should be halted," House Commission
VI deputy chairman Azam Azman Natawijana said on Tuesday (26/04).

Indonesia's anti-monopoly agency, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission

(KPPU), is also investigating the tender, Azam said.

Meanwhile, PLN president director Sofyan Basyir said the company would cooperate
fully with the investigation.

He said he remained confident that the construction of the project would begin next
month, in order to meet the 2019 operational target.

The consortium beat several competitors for the project last year, including state
construction firm Wijaya Karya and Indo Tambangray Megah.

The site faces the Java Sea, which would provide an adequate source of water to cool
the power plant.

However, two property companies have since altered the shoreline near the plant's
proposed location, which would undermine the effectiveness of the cooling process.
Agung Wicaksono, deputy chairman of the electricity development unit at the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources, said the central government never issued permits for
reclamation projects in the area, so the property developers should halt any further
activities to allow the power plant to proceed.

The Jawa 7 project is expected to occupy 172 hectares in the Kramatwatu sub-district in
Serang, Banten province.
Indonesia to Acquire Five Floating Power
Plants in Next 5 Years
Manado. Indonesia is expected to have five floating power plants with a total capacity of
540 megawatts within the next five years.

According to Ufuk Berk, Asia director at energy and engineering company

Karpowership, the first of the five floating power plants is currently in North Sulawesi,
after it arrived in the Gulf of Amurang in South Minahasa during January.

"The power plant ship has the capacity of 125 MW and it is operational," Berk told
Suara Pembaruan in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Friday (08/04).

State-owned utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara is cooperating with Turkey-

based Karpowership to procure the vessels in order to mitigate electricity crises in
Indonesia.

"It is a very good project to assist Indonesia with its electricity shortages," Berk said.

The ship, which has been operational since its arrival, has 45 engineers on board.
However, due to PLN's insufficient power distribution network, only 82 MW of the ship's
total capacity of 125 MW can currently be supplied.

Ufuk said his company would also supply electricity to Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara),
Mataram (West Nusa Tenggara), Medan (North Sumatra) and several other regions.
The ship destined for Medan will have a capacity of 200 MW.
Govt to End Electricity Subsidy for 18m
Households in Junei
Jakarta. The government will stop subsidizing 18 million electricity customers in June,
as part of its efforts to cut state spending.

Indonesia is at risk of losing out on $19 billion in revenue this year amid weak economic
growth, low global commodity prices and uncertainty over its tax amnesty plan.

"We are aiming to drop the subsidy in June," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister
Sudirman Said said on Friday (01/04).

State utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) estimates that only 4.2 million of the 22
million subsidized households, consuming 900 volt-amperes of electricity, are entitled
to the aid. The remainder have sufficient purchasing power to buy electricity at
the normal rate.

Sudirman said those 18 million customers could see their electricity bills rise by 140
percent in stages by the end of this year.

The government planned to cut its electricity subsidy to Rp 38 trillion ($2.9 billion) this
year from Rp 66 trillion last year, assuming that it stopped subsidizing households in
January. Sudirman did not say how much the government stood to save now that
the subsidy would only be phased out in June.

Standard & Poor's Financial Services had said earlier that Indonesia needed to
eliminate the remaining subsidies in order to gain the global ratings agency's much-
coveted investment grade.

S&P is the only major ratings agency besides Moody's Investors Service and Fitch
Ratings that still rate the country's bonds as junk. That prevents major global pension
funds and other long-term investors from investing in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Govt Set to Revise Mine-Mouth Power Plant
Pricing Scheme
Jakarta. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is considering a revision of the
margin at which mine-mouth coal-fired power plants sell their electricity to Perusahaan
Listrik Negara, arguing that the current margin hampers the state utility's ability to cut
prices further.

Under the current scheme, coal miners own the power plants and sell the power to PLN
at 25 percent higher than production costs. However, the state utility says lower coal
prices, which are supposed to benefit its customers, have not been reflected in the
scheme's pricing.

"We are now formulating a new, more flexible pricing scheme," Bambang Gatot, director
general of minerals and coal at the energy ministry, said on Monday (28/03).

Bambang said the government would impose a floor and ceiling on miners' profit
margins, in accordance with the agreement between the coal miners and PLN.
However, the government has yet to determine what those levels will be, he added.

Ministry data shows that Indonesia's benchmark coal price has dropped 3.5 percent so
far this year, following a 17 percent decline in 2015, as weak demand from China
continues.

Mine-mouth power plants still account for just a fraction of PLN's total power capacity.
Miners, such as state-controlled Tambang Batu Bara Bukit Asam, are keen to develop
this type of power plant, as they can earn from their product than by shipping it in bulk.
Discarded Cable Insulation Material in
Central Jakarta Gutter Not Sabotage: Police
Jakarta. The tons of discarded electrical cable insulation material discovered in
gutters along a main street near the Presidential Palace and City Hall in Central Jakarta
do not appear to have been placed there in a deliberate act of sabotage as suggested,
the capital's top cop said on Friday (04/03).

This finding comes after police investigators coordinated with officials of state
utility PLN, which admitted that the cables had belonged to the company.

"Based on the information from PLN, there are underground cables that are sometimes
no longer needed," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said. "These cables,
which contain copper, are sometimes intentionally abandoned, because the cost of
removing them is higher than their economic value."

"We believe the unused PLN cables were stolen by certain people. They just removed
the copper and left the insulation material behind," Tito added. "So this could partly be
the result of negligence [by PLN staff]. We will check on PLN's standard operating
procedures."

The discarded insulation material was first discovered by sanitation workers in the
gutters along Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan last week. City officials initially alleged that
the material had been placed inside the gutter as an act of sabotage, saying that the
insulation material was blocking the drainage system in the area, potentially leading to
flooding.

In 2014, cable insulation material was also found in the gutters near City Hall but
officials did not remove all of it at the time.
PLN to Spend $6b on Power Plants,
Transmission Network in 2016
Jakarta. State utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara will invest up to Rp 80 trillion
($6 billion) this year to expand its power generation and distribution network in
Indonesia.

The company, better known as PLN, will add 9,000 kilometers of power transmission
and distribution lines this year, 10 times more than last year, PLN president director
Sofyan Basir said.

PLN would also begin constructing several power plants, which are part of the
government’s program to add 35,000 megawatts of power capacity by 2019.

Sofyan said PLN will use internal cash to fund one third of the investment, while the
remainder would come from bank loans and a capital injection by the government.

The Asian Development Bank has committed to lend $600 million to PLN over the next
five years. A fifth of the loan was disbursed earlier this month, in line with progress
shown in PLN's Sumatra transmission project.
Power Down
The image of a worker from Indonesian utilities firm PLN inspecting a transformer is
reflected by a traffic mirror in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The state-owned company has slashed its electricity tariffs for 12 non-subsidized
customer groups as a result of the December drop in Indonesian Crude Oil Prices (ICP)
from $41.44 per barrel to $39 per barrel.
'Publicity Stunt' — PLN Cuts Tariffs by
1.2%
Jakarta. Executives from several associations have criticized the government for only
reducing electricity tariffs for non-subsidized customers by a marginal amount, arguing
that greater electricity incentives are needed to support companies amid falling
commodity prices.

"It's more like a publicity stunt. We've seen how oil prices have fallen [drastically], it
should [then] lead to an [adjustment in electricity prices]," Hariyadi Sukamdani,
chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said on Tuesday (2/2).

The country's state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara on Monday reduced tariffs for
customers across the board in all categories by an average of 1.2 percent. Its
customers include small, middle and large households, government offices, mid-size
businesses, public street lighting and manufacturing companies.

A reduction in electricity tariffs was made possible on the back of lowered Indonesian
crude oil prices, which fell by 14.41 percent to $35.47 per barrel in December from
$41.44 the month prior.

Electricity prices for households and small and medium businesses is set at Rp
1,392.12 (10 US cents) per kilowatt hour (kWh), down 1.22 percent from Rp 1,409.16
per kWh previously, PLN’s commercial division head, Benny Marbun, said in a
statement on Monday.

Electricity tariffs for businesses, mid-level industry and government buildings is set at
Rp 1,070.82, down 1.21 percent from Rp 1,083.92 previously.

Other heavy users, including manufacturers, will enjoy the same 1.2 percent discount,
paying just Rp 958.62 per kWh from Rp 970.35 in January previously.

"Electricity incentives [for the industrial user] should be [greater], but it is now the other
way around," said Rosan P. Roeslani, the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Indonesian companies, especially commodity exporters, have to cope with the falling
commodity prices in the global markets, leading to plummeting revenues.
PLN to Require 81 Tons of Coal This Year
Jakarta. Indonesian state utility company PLN has estimated that the country will need 81 million
metric tons of coal this year to fulfill demand from all of its coal-fired power plants.

Demand rose 15 percent from last year's coal consumption at 70.6 million tons, as some PLN power plants
and independent power procurers are scheduled to go online this year, Harlen, head of PLN's coal
division, said on Tuesday.

"We are asking the government to allocate about 81 million tons this year," Harlan said.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry would soon set the domestic market obligation figure, setting
a minimum amount of coal the producers need to supply the local market in order to ensure sufficient
power generation.

Coal currently accounts for a third of the country power generation, the second largest energy source after
oil, which accounts for 44 percent.

Indonesia produced 383 million metric tons of coal in 2015, down 16 percent from the 2014 output of 459
million tons.
Millions Without Power as N. Sumatra Fire
Causes 9-Hour Blackout
Medan, North Sumatra. A fire at a furniture factory on Sunday has caused a nine-hour
blackout in large parts of North Sumatra and Aceh.

"Don't let it happen again," 40-year-old Medan resident Solihin said on Monday
morning, after the electricity was back on in the city of over two million. "The blackout
was really disturbing."

Solihin said lights went out at 6 p.m. on Sunday and electricity only came back on
around 3 a.m.

Sugianto, the North Sumatra district manager for state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara,
said a fire at a furniture factory in Belawan was to blame for the blackout.

"Transmission cable No. 3 and No. 4 from Belawan to Binjai were cut because of the
fire at that wood factory," he said, adding that the electricity supply in the region should
be back to normal in three to five days.

"The blackout was not because of PLN's doing, but because of the fire," Sugianto said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Cabang Indah factory fire, but
damage is estimated to run in the billions of rupiah (hundreds of thousands of dollars).

Police are investigating what caused the fire.

PLN to Start Operating First Power Plant in
Govt's 35,000 MW Program Next Month
Gorontalo. State utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara, or PLN, is set to start operating a
new 100-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Gorontalo next month, marking the
government's first milestone in its quest to roll out 35,000 megawatt worth of power
generation capacity across the archipelago during President Joko Widodo's term in
office.

Machnizon Masri, director at PLN for the business in the Sulawesi and East Nusa
Tenggara region, said that four 25-megawatt generator units, spread across 15.9
hectares of land, have already been installed, although two are still to be tested.

PLN is also wrapping up work on Gorontalo's main power grid, as well as the
construction of six transmission towers with 150 kilovolt in capacity across a 1.4
kilometer circuit, he added.

"This will be the first power generator to operate within the program to build 35,000
megawatt of power targeted for the next five years," Machnizon said recently. "The
additional electricity from this generator will be the answer to the lack of power in the
region."

As part of his pledge to accelerate infrastructure development across Indonesia, Joko's

administration aims to roll out 35,000 megawatt of additional power between 2015 and
2019.

According to Machnizon, the Gorontalo plant in the north of Sulawesi saw a speedy
construction and faced few hurdles, be it land disputes or bureaucratic tangles ,thanks
to the cooperation of the local administration.

"The [Gorontalo governor] gathered his department heads to speed up our permits and
he has always been proactive on what PLN needs. We hope this could set an example
for other regions in the 35,000 megawatt program," the PLN director added.

The power plant, which will service Gorontalo's some 1 million residents, started
construction in September last year with the help of state contractor Pembangunan
Perumahan.

Gorontalo Governor Rusli Habibie welcomed the news, saying that Gorontalo residents
will soon experience less blackouts thanks to the additional power generation capacity.
Kamojang Geothermal Spat Escalates With
Pertamina to Hold Steam Supply for PLN
Jakarta. Pertamina Geothermal Energy, the geothermal unit of state energy firm
Pertamina, will stop selling steam for Kamojang geothermal power plant in West Java to
state-electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara in February after both companies failed
to agree to a new lower steam price.

The fallout casts a shadow over Indonesia's future geothermal development, which has
seen its competitiveness eroded amid persistently low global and coal prices.

"There is no deal," said Pertamina's vice president corporate communication Wianda

Pusponegoro, said in a statement on Wednesday.

In Kamojang, Pertamina operates geothermal wells which supply steam to a 140

megawatts power plant owned by PLN. Pertamina also has a 60 megawatts power plant
in the project.

"This is very regrettable because it could be a bad precedent for geothermal and
renewable energy in Indonesia," Wianda said.

Pertamina needs a fair price in order invest in new geothermal projects, Wianda argued.

Under previous negotiations, PLN has offered to buy power for Kamojang at 3.3 cents
per kWh — less than half of PGE’s asking price of 7.4 cents per kWh. Currently, PGE
sells to PLN at 6.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.

PLN, on the other hand, said Pertamina's asking price would force up prices for
customers.

"We are puzzled why, after 30 years of cooperation, Pertamina would force up the price
so steeply," PLN spokesman Agung Murdifi said on Wednesday.

He said the PLN offered price was based on the price of steam from the utility firm's
own geothermal wells, such as Mataloko and Ulumbu in Flores and Tulehu in Ambon.

PLN can afford to lose supply for the 140-megawatt Kamojang plants, as it has enough
supply for the Java-Bali electricity grid from other coal and gas based power plants,
Agung said.
Jakarta Govt to Streamline Infrastructure
Projects
Jakarta. The Jakarta administration is considering forming a team to coordinate
development and maintenance projects conducted by various city agencies, the central
government and state-owned enterprises, the city's Industry and Energy Agency chief
said on Monday.

Agency chief Yuli Hartono said Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was concerned
about overlapping projects in the capital which he said have damaged Jakarta's
infrastructure and caused safety concerns.

“The projects seem to have no synergy. Every [agency] has its own project,” Yuli said at
the City Hall on Monday as quoted by Detik.com.

“If we want to install cables for street lights [the work] will be undone by the parks
[agency] and later by the public works [agency] and so on. If there is some coordination
the projects can be done at once. This is not the case. Once we are done, there will be
another project and [sidewalks] get dismantled again,” Yuli added.

The various projects also cause safety hazards, with cables [both utility and data] not
encased in its protective covering.

"[The underground cabling network] is a mess. We are trying to wire new street lights
and we can't [do it smoothly] because we have utility and fiber optic cables to consider,”
Yuli said.

The chaotic wiring has been blamed for the deaths of two people who were electrocuted
during heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding in the northern part of Jakarta last week.

The governor, Yuli added, will also establish a team to coordinate projects including
those conducted by ministries, telecommunication operators and state-owned utility firm
PLN.

“The central government and companies will be obliged to submit plans to the city
government to synchronize the projects. This way we can follow their schedule,” he
said.
BKPM: Power Plant Projects Dominate 2015
Investment Proposals
Jakarta. Power plant projects dominated investment proposals in Indonesia with up to
37.5 percent of the total this year, taking the government one step closer to achieving its
goal of rolling out 35 gigawatts in additional power-generating capacity by 2019.

Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) reported that it received Rp 707.37

trillion worth of principle license proposals for projects in the electricity, water and gas
sectors between Jan. 1 and Dec. 28 this year, tripling from the same period last year.

The country booked about Rp 1,886 trillion worth of principle licenses in total so far this
year, up 45 percent from the same period last year, according to BKPM.

Still, actual execution of the proposed projects — one of the country's biggest stumbling
blocks — remains to be proven.

"Whenever we visit construction sites this year, one of the biggest problems is energy.
Because of that, realizing this investment in the long run will be crucial in boosting the
competitiveness of other sectors," BKPM chief Franky Sibarani said in a statement
received by the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

He said that the government has been making attempts to streamline and improve the
licensing process as well as offering tax allowance facilities in the electricity sector in
order to achieve the 35 gigawatt goal.

This included efforts to coordinate with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
and state electricity operator Perusahaan Listrik Negara to cut the licensing process to
25 permits within 256 days compared to 49 permits in 923 days, according to a
statement.
Four Arrested in E. Jakarta for Facilitating
Electricity Theft
Jakarta. Police in East Jakarta have arrested four men who had been offering
technical services to help people steal electricity.

Sr. Comr. Umar Faroq, the head of the East Jakarta Police, said an investigation was
launched after complaints from state-owned utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negera,
better known as PLN.

The men, identified as S.N., H.S., S.P. and S.L, illegally connected buildings to PLN's
network for Rp 500,000 to Rp 750,000 ($35-$53), and sometimes more.

S.P. and S.L., police said, were registered electricians licensed to carry out work for
PLN.

H.S. and S.N., meanwhile, are suspected of having illegally provided the necessary
equipment, such as second-hand electricity meters used to hide the fact that a
household was stealing electricity.

PLN has in recent years been hiking its prices as the government is trying to reduce
subsidies.