Regulations
Experts doubt that supplies from the two companies under investigation could have caused such widespread blackouts, noting that PLN sources coal from hundreds of suppliers.
A coal barge sails the western Java Sea on Oct. 31, 2023, as it heads to a coal terminal near the Suralaya coal-fired power plant in Cilegon, Banten. (AFP/Ronald Siagian)
A corruption investigation into two coal suppliers for power plants, which authorities suspect contributed to blackouts across Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan, has raised concerns about transparency in the energy sector and the government's repeated criminal probes into private companies following major disasters.Experts said the wide gap between the domestic market obligation (DMO) coal price cap for power generation and higher global prices, combined with weak oversight, has created a moral hazard for unscrupulous suppliers. However, they doubted that supplies from the two companies under investigation could have caused such widespread blackouts, noting that state-owned electricity company PLN sources coal from hundreds of suppliers.
The National Police have launched an investigation into alleged corruption involving local coal miners that may has led to rolling blackouts in several regions across Indonesia, causing an estimated Rp 5 trillion (US$277.5 million) in economic losses.
