PLN TRIES TO AVOID POWER CUTS DURING RAMADHAN

Jakarta, Aug 31 (ANTARA) - State electricity company PT PLN said on Sunday it will make every effort to prevent power cuts during the fasting month of Ramadhan which is to start on Monday.

"We likewise ask customers not to use electrical power execessively," PLN Operations Director for the Java-Bali Grids Murtaqi Syamsuddin said.

Murtaqi said PLN would control power consumption to prevent power cuts.

Unless the power consumption was controlled, the highest peak load would increase 450 MW to 16,700 MW this year from 16,250 MW last year, he said.
Yet, through a number of rentrenchment programs the average peak load was expected to reach 16,000 MW this year, he said.
As a result of the government's policy to shift industries' days-off to days other than Saturday and Sunday, industrial and business customers had cut their power consumption by 430 MW, he said.
Industrial customers have their days-off shifted from Monday and Friday to Saturday and Sunday twice a month.
Business customers including malls, offices and hotels are subject to three-hour power cuts once a week during the peak load (06.00 pm - 09.00 pm).
Consequently, many of the business customers use their own generators during the peak load.