PLN: Rolling Blackouts Caused by Disruptions at Two Major Power Plants

Rolling blackouts are affecting several regions in Java due to disruptions at two major power plants, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) or PLN announced. The company stated that these technical operational issues have reduced the power supply capacity for the Java system, necessitating temporary load management to balance supply and demand.

"This step is taken because there are technical operational constraints at the power plants and two major power units are experiencing disruptions, causing them to be temporarily inoperable and reducing the capacity of the electricity supply system," said Gregorius Adi Trianto, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications and CSR at PLN, in a written statement on Friday, June 19, 2026. He assured that PLN is accelerating recovery efforts by optimizing electricity supply from other plants and managing the system to minimize customer impact.

Gregorius apologized for the inconvenience, emphasizing that the load management is temporary and will be phased out as the supply situation improves. Previously, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia had indicated that the rolling blackouts were caused by a shortage of medium-calorie coal at several coal-fired power plants (PLTU). He explained in a June 15 meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission XII that the coal supply limitations prevented optimal electricity generation.

Bahlil attributed the issue to a significant gap between the domestic market obligation (DMO) price for coal and market prices. Coal sold to PLN is priced at the DMO rate of $70 per ton, while the benchmark coal price (HBA) for June 2026 reached $121.83 per ton for 6,322 kcal/kg coal and $84.53 per ton for medium-calorie 5,300 kcal/kg coal. "So, the selling price to PLN is no longer profitable for the company. That is the problem," Bahlil stated. Sudirman Widhy, Chairman of the Indonesian Mining Professionals Association (Perhapi), noted that most companies with medium-calorie coal reserves meet their DMO obligations of 25-30% of production. However, many are reluctant to increase supply to PLN because the DMO price, unchanged since 2018, no longer reflects current production costs, which have risen due to increased stripping ratios, fuel expenses, and spare part prices.

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This step is taken because there are technical operational constraints at the power plants and two major power units are experiencing disruptions, causing them to be temporarily inoperable and reducing the capacity of the electricity supply system.