DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇩 Indonesia /Economy & Trade

Rolling blackouts hit small businesses hard in Indonesia's Bandung

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Small business owners in Greater Bandung, Indonesia, are experiencing significant financial losses due to rolling blackouts caused by PLN.
  • A photocopy business owner reported his turnover halved, while a beverage seller faced increased expenses and customer loss.
  • PLN cited technical challenges with two major power-generating units as the cause for the temporary electricity load management.

Rolling blackouts in Greater Bandung, Indonesia, are severely impacting small businesses, with owners reporting halved turnovers and increased operational costs. Ihsan Faturrohman, a 35-year-old owner of a photocopy business in Majalaya, Bandung Regency, stated his daily earnings dropped from up to Rp1 million to just Rp500,000 during the outages.

I usually earn up to Rp1 million a day, but during the power outages, I only earned half of that.

— Ihsan FaturrohmanA photocopy business owner describes the financial impact of the blackouts.

Ihsan's business relies heavily on electricity for photocopiers and printers, which are rendered useless during blackouts. While he can still sell office supplies, the profit margin is significantly lower compared to his core services. He has experienced multiple outages, including one that lasted from 10 a.m. to around 3 p.m., disrupting his entire workday.

At most, I can rely on selling office supplies, but it's not as profitable. The substantial profit comes from photocopy or printing services.

— Ihsan FaturrohmanA photocopy business owner explains his reduced income streams during power outages.

Similarly, Ade Mamad, a 49-year-old coffee and orange juice seller in Cileunyi, Bandung Regency, faces challenges with his electric-powered equipment. He needs a sealer for packaging his orange juice and a grinder for coffee. The inability to use the sealer has forced him to buy plastic covers, adding to his expenses. Manual grinding for coffee has also led to longer preparation times, causing some customers to abandon their purchases.

I was affected by the power outages. I sell orange juice that requires a sealer, and coffee that needs a grinder.

— Ade MamadA beverage seller details how the blackouts disrupt his business operations.

Nurmalitasari, Communication Manager for PLN's West Java branch, explained that the rolling blackouts are a temporary measure to address technical issues with two large power-generating units. These disturbances have reduced the electricity supply capacity. PLN has apologized for the inconvenience and stated that the load management will be gradually discontinued as the supply system improves.

There were even times when the customers backed out on purchasing since it took too long to make the coffee, as I had to grind the beans manually.

— Ade MamadA beverage seller recounts lost sales due to extended preparation times during blackouts.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog