PLN's Explanation Regarding The Surge In Electricity Bills For Welding Workshops In Malang Up To IDR 20 Million

PLN Commercial and Customer Management Director Bob Saril (Mery Handayani / VOI)

JAKARTA - PLN's Director of Commerce and Customer Management, Bob Saril, answered the problem of rising electricity bills experienced by Teguh Wuranto, a welding workshop entrepreneur from Bedali Village, Lawang District, Malang Regency. Where the customer gets an electricity bill of up to IDR 20 million.

Through his social media accounts, Teguh shared his experience of receiving electricity bill receipts, which jumped drastically to reach Rp. 20 million in May. In fact, he felt that he had never previously received bills of more than Rp. 2,500,000 per month.

Bob said that the case of the increase in bills experienced by Teguh was due to a damage to the welding business' equipment. The tool in question is a capacitor to compensate for the use of electricity from the welding tool.

"He has a capacitor to compensate, so that he can get Kph. Based on the government rate, for industry there is Kph, not the tariff, it's the difference that has to be paid for compensation. PLN bears the burden, it has a price. "he said, in a virtual discussion entitled 'Gijang Ganjing Electric Bill', Thursday, June 11.

However, said Bob, Teguh was not aware of any damage to the capacitor. As a result, his electricity bill has soared. "Previously, the normal pay was Rp. 2 million. Because the equipment is still good, but now the equipment is damaged by the customer," he said.

Bob also made an analogy of Teguh's case with a leaky motorcycle tank. According to him, gas station operators cannot be blamed for the wasteful use of fuel due to a leak in the gas tank. Now this is also true in this case.

Furthermore, Bob emphasized, Teguh must pay the bill in full. Moreover, there are already relief in the form of payments that can be paid in installments.

"So this has been clarified, the owner has also clarified, even so we still provide solutions and must be paid. Because this life must go on and PLN must continue to serve," he explained.

Bob said the amount of the electricity bill was only determined by the tariff and volume of usage. In addition, electricity rates have never increased since January 2017. Thus, the increase in electricity must be caused by the enlarging volume of use.

Previously, based on the invoice, Teguh's shop electricity bill in February amounted to Rp2,152,494. Then in the following month IDR 921,067, then increased in April to IDR 1,218,912. However, in May, the bill increased 20-fold by Rp.20,158,686.