JAKARTA - The government and the DPR RI Budget Agency (Banggar) have announced a plan to remove the 450 volt ampere (VA) power group of electricity customers by increasing the power to 900 VA.
Member of Commission VI DPR RI Amin Ak assessed that this decision would not necessarily significantly increase the absorption of excess electricity supply from PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) or PLN.
According to him, assuming the subsidy policy does not change, it will actually increase the number of electricity subsidies in line with the increase in electricity use.
"Is the government willing to bear the swelling cost of electricity subsidies. Nowa alone has complained because of the large subsidy of electricity for the poor and vulnerable to poverty," Amin said in a statement received by VOI, Thursday, September 15.
Based on data from 2021, there are 32.5 million household consumers who receive subsidies.
This number consists of 24.3 million household consumers with 450 VA electricity and 8.2 million household customers with 900 VA.
Citing PLN data, the amount of electricity subsidies for the two groups of consumers is IDR 80,000 per consumer per month for 450 VA household consumers, and for 900 VA household consumers the average is IDR 90,000 per consumer per month.
The total subsidies that must be issued for the two consumer groups reached Rp32.184 trillion or 65 percent of the total electricity subsidies for the 2021 fiscal year amounting to Rp49.76 trillion.
With the addition of power to 900 VA and the assumption is that the amount of subsidies does not change, the number of subsidies for poor and vulnerable households will increase to at least Rp. 35.1 trillion. The problem is, with rising power, there is a possibility that consumption per household will also increase.
The increase in consumption is the target the government wants to reduce excess supply. I predict that an increase in overall consumption will not be too significant, on the other hand the number of subcisions will increase sharply explained Amin.
According to Amin, if the goal is to reduce more supply, then what should be done is to strengthen domestic industries, especially outside Java.
He gave an example, in eastern Indonesia, which is a fishery production center, the fishery product processing industry should develop so that it can absorb excess supply.
This must be supported by strengthening inter-island electricity infrastructure as well as providing incentives for natural resource-based processing industries.
In addition, he continued, if electricity infrastructure between islands develops and is interconnected, it will make it easier to export electricity to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Timor Leste, and Papua New Guinea. So that it can be a solution to reduce excess electricity supply.
Regarding the use of electric stoves to reduce the use of 3 kg LPG gas, Amin also admitted that he was doubtful. That's because the power needed by an electric stove is large. With the latest technology made in China, for example, the power stove is still 600 watts up.
The use of electric stoves will clearly increase people's spending on electricity. Yes, poor and vulnerable household consumers will flock to electric stoves," Amin asked.
Meanwhile, if the goal is to reduce LPG subsidies, why does the government not move quickly to divert LPG consumption or liquid petroleum gas to LNG or liquid natural gas or natural gas.
"By using LNG Indonesia, there is no need to import gas, it can even be exported. Based on data from the Special Task Force for the Implementation of Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas), the number of reserves is proven to be RI's natural gas until December 31, 2021, recorded at 42.93 trillion cubic feet (TCF). With the assumption that gas production is 6,000 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) standards, the reserves are proven to be sufficient for about 19.6 years," he concluded.
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