Electricity Rates Not Raised, Should the Government “Nombok”?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The decision of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) not to raise electricity rates in the second quarter of 2021 is projected to increase the compensation funds that the government needs to pay to PT PLN (Persero).

This is because, at the same time, a number of components of the cost of production (BPP) of electricity have increased, so that the burden of providing PLN electricity will be even higher.

“With the increase in the BPP, we can be sure that later the government’s compensation fund for PLN will also increase,” said Executive Director of Energy Watch, Mamit Setiawan, to Kompas.com, Tuesday (9/3/2021).

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As is known, the realization of the average coal benchmark price in November 2020 to January 2021, increased from the previous period to IDR 762.84 per kg and the Indonesian crude price (ICP) of 47.21 US dollars per barrel.

Seeing these price movements, Mamit projects that the government will make changes to the 2021 state budget (APBN), to increase the electricity subsidy budget.

“Certainly it will burden the government’s finances in the future, even though the 2021 subsidy has been set,” he said.

To reduce the cost of compensation, Mamit suggested to PLN to make efficiency, so that it could cut the electricity tariff BPP.

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Previously, the Head of the Communication, Public Information Services and Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Agung Pribadi hoped that PLN could continue to improve operational efficiency so that the BPP of electricity per kWh could be strived to decrease.

“Or at least it remains from the previous period,” said Agung.

“Not increasing the amount of electricity tariff will certainly provide certainty to various groups of people and maintain people’s purchasing power and support the stability and recovery of the national economy,” he said.

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