PKS Declines Rise of Electricity Pricing

VIVAnews - Justice and Prosperous Party (PKS) faction still rejects the plan of electricity pricing review which will be applied as of April 2012.

"Although the subsidy is reduced, there are still alternative policies which may anticipate the rise in electricity pricing," said House Commission VII member from PKS, Sohibul Iman, in Jakarta, today.

Sohibul Iman offered two solutions to avoid the hike. First, gas supply to power plants will be in place. "The cost of generating electricity by using gas is much lower. It's only about Rp440/kwh, compared to that of oil-fueled electricity that is about Rp2,200/kwh," he said.

The second solution, Sohibul explained further, is government's consistant efforts in providing coal for power plants. "When coal prices are stable, PLN’s demand for coal of 57 million tons in 2012 will be cut down to Rp2 trillion," he explained.

In the data that the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JIST), Japan, Doctoral graduate has, between 2009 and 2010 the coal supply for 10,000 MW steam-fueled power plant Phase 1 experienced a significant constraint. This is due to the realization of three coal suppliers declared as the winner in LRC (Low Rank Coal) procurement bidding which was only 66 percent (in 2009) and 17 percent (2010).

However, on the other hand, Sohibul Iman was upset over the government policy on gas exports. It causes PLN to to have lower target on Dual Firing-based power plant. As a result, PLN ought to operate the High Speed Diesel (HSD).

In effect, eight units of Dual Firing-based power plants could only obtain gas supply contract as much as 49 percent of the needed amount for two years. "Based on the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) audit, the losses from gas shortage were around Rp17.9 trillion in 2009 and Rp19.7 trillion in 2010," said the House member.