State utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara expects revenue to rise 9.5 percent this year after the electricity rate cap for industrial users was removed and as millions of new customers around the archipelago are connected to power, a top executive said on Friday.
“We are sure we can finish 3.5 million new installations this year that will generate Rp 6.4 trillion [$736 million] in revenue,” said Benny Marbun, head of PLN’s commercial division. “We also expect 5.6 percent growth in revenue from the uncapped rate for industry.”
Power rate hikes for industrial customers were capped at 18 percent last year, but this limit was removed on Jan. 1 by PLN on the grounds that the increases were not uniform, creating unfair competition.
Benny said the number of new customers connected this year would lift the nation’s electrification rate to a total of 72 percent of the nation’s population of 237 million from last year’s 64 percent.
PLN is concentrating on the eastern reaches of the archipelago in its electrification efforts, said Vickner Sinaga, operational director of the region. The utility will spend Rp 2 trillion to boost the connection rate there.
“Currently, there are only five of 10 provinces [in eastern Indonesia] that have reached a 60 percent electricity rate. Our target is to raise the other five provinces’ electricity rate to more than 60 percent this year,” Vickner said.
Of the Rp 2 trillion allocated for eastern Indonesia, PLN is spending Rp 1.2 trillion to build solar power plants on at least 100 islands. The facilities are expected to generate 376 megawatts, enough to supply 1.1 million households.
Meanwhile, PLN is adding 4,830 megawatts in the Java-Bali region and a scant 74 megawatts for west Indonesia, with two plants to be built in Sumatra.
The utility’s revenue rose 10.6 percent to Rp 162 trillion last year from 2009, while profit fell 2.6 percent to Rp 10.08 trillion last year due to declines in foreign exchange gains.
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