BALINEWSID.COM, JAKARTA – Indonesia’s ongoing electricity crisis, particularly affecting Sumatra and Java, has drawn sharp criticism from the National Coordinator of Relawan Listrik untuk Negeri (Re-LUN), Teuku Yudhistira, who accused PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo of failing to expand the country’s power generation capacity during his five-year tenure.

Speaking in Jakarta on Wednesday (June 11, 2026), Yudhistira claimed that no new power plant projects had been initiated under Darmawan’s leadership, contributing to the current strain on the national electricity system.

“Please check whether any new power plants were initiated during Darmawan Prasodjo’s tenure as PLN President Director. Not once did he make a decision to begin the construction of a new power plant,” Yudhistira said.

According to him, the current power shortages are not solely the result of declining coal reserves but are also linked to a growing deficit in generation capacity. He argued that aging power plants, coupled with poor maintenance scheduling and management issues, have reduced the reliability of the electricity system.

Yudhistira also dismissed PLN’s explanation that recent supply disruptions were caused by problems at the Jawa 1 Combined Cycle Power Plant (PLTGU Jawa 1), insisting that the broader issue lies in the company’s long-term planning and investment decisions.

“This is fundamentally the responsibility of PLN’s President Director. Instead of addressing the root causes, PLN has relied on short-term solutions such as rented power plants, which are costly to operate, especially amid rising global oil prices,” he said.

He further criticized what he described as PLN’s failure to translate its energy transition commitments into concrete actions.

“Darmawan often speaks about PLN’s support for the energy transition, but in reality there has been no significant execution,” Yudhistira stated.

The Re-LUN coordinator argued that delays in investment decisions by PLN and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have contributed to the current electricity deficit. He noted that power demand in Java continues to grow alongside Indonesia’s economic expansion.

Yudhistira claimed that slow investment decisions could hamper the government’s efforts to accelerate economic growth and improve development across the country.

In addition to operational concerns, he criticized PLN’s public communication strategy during rolling blackouts in several regions of Java.

According to Yudhistira, the state-owned utility has repeatedly referred to the outages as “disturbances” or “maintenance activities” without fully explaining the underlying causes of the power shortages.

“The public deserves honest and comprehensive information. Communication should not stop at the words ‘disturbance’ and ‘maintenance’ while people continue to suffer recurring blackouts,” he said.

He added that PLN should provide greater transparency regarding electricity supply conditions, generation capacity, and the corrective measures being taken to address the situation.

Yudhistira also called on PLN executives, including Distribution Director Arsyadany Ghana Akmalaputri, to offer clear explanations to consumers regarding the causes of the outages and the expected timeline for resolving them.

“When power outages occur repeatedly, people need more than a simple statement that there is a disturbance. They need certainty about when the problem will be resolved, what actually caused it, and who is accountable,” he said.