The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is asked to take responsibility for PLN blackout in Sumatra and Bali

Illustration - the atmosphere of Singkawang City when the electricity went out, Friday (3/7/2026) evening. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is asked to be responsible for the total power outage or blackout in several regions of Indonesia that occurred some time ago.

The Center of Energy and Resources Institute (CERI) assessed that the coal corruption scandal that resulted in power outages in Sumatra and Bali actually stemmed from the negligence of the Director General of Minerba of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in the governance of coal supply fulfillment.

CERI suspects that the lack of coal supply occurs because many coal mining companies do not fulfill their DMO (Domestic Market Obligation) obligations but can still continue to produce and export abroad when this should be prevented using the regulatory instruments owned by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

"The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Director General of Mineral and Coal, should be responsible when there are irregularities," said CERI Executive Director, Yusri Usman, Saturday, July 11.

"The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources should be able to check that companies who do not fulfill the DMO obligation. They have Simbara (Mineral and Coal Information System) with real-time information. Every miner must input data into Simbara regarding how much they produce, how much royalty is paid, DMO obligations, and so on," he continued.

Yusri expressed his surprise about the mining company that could still export when it did not meet the DMO.

"If one company violates, they will automatically not be able to get an export permit. Every miner will not be able to export if they do not get an export recommendation from the Director General of Mining to the Director General of Foreign Trade", said Yusri.

Yusri also highlighted the bluntness of the punishment given by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to mining companies that did not meet the DMO.

"If it meets the DMO, the cost of the production mining company until it is brought to the PLTU is around 45 dollars. If it does not meet the DMO, the fine is 5 dollars per ton. While the price in the international market is around 68 dollars per ton. So if the mining company does not meet the DMO because of exports, they still make a profit of 17-18 dollars per ton," he said.

Yusri assessed that the negligence of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in using the instruments they have such as RKAB, Simbara, and export recommendations as the main reason for the primary energy supply deficit which resulted in PLN blackouts some time ago.

A few days ago, the Corruption Tipikor Unit of the National Police announced that PT OBP and PT BRA were suspected of causing PLN's blackout in the practice of coal procurement irregularities.

CERI rejects the assumption that the two PTs are the cause of the blackout because the supply from both companies only covers a very small proportion of PLN's needs.

"The total supply volume from the two companies is only 2 million tons. While PLN's needs are around 154-160 million tons. What percentage is it?", said Yusri.