"Today, we issued a release which (stated that) there is no revocation of the 450 VA (mode). There is no such thing," Acting Director General of Electricity at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Dadan Kusdiana, stated at the Jakarta Convention Center here on Wednesday.
Kusdiana remarked that the statement was made by Chairman of the Budget Agency at the House of Representatives, Said Abdullah, while affirming that it was only a one-sided proposal from the parliament.
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He noted that the proposal was deemed viable in terms of initiative and should be discussed further with Commission VII and also President Jokowi for support in the cabinet.
As per the budget agency’s stipulation, the subsidy would remain the same as was currently, he added.
“Hence, there is no change in the 450 VA (group), which is still included in the government’s calculation. There is no adjustment, from 450 VA to 900 VA," he emphasized.
The ministry noted that most of those receiving electricity subsidies were all household customers of the 450-VA and 900-VA categories, which were listed in the Integrated Social Welfare Data.
Of the approximately 24.3 million 450-VA subscribers, some 9.5 million were listed in the Integrated Social Welfare Data. On the other hand,14.8 million customers of the 450-VA mode were not listed.
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Currently, the government has conducted a survey for 12.2 million, and the result stated that 50.1 percent were entitled to receive subsidies, and some 49.9 percent, or 6.1 million, were deemed ineligible for it. That figure could increase once the survey was conducted thoroughly.
At a meeting of the Working Committee for the Discussion of the 2023 State Budget on September 12, 2022, Chairman of the Budget Agency at the House of Representatives, Said Abdullah, proposed the elimination of the 450-VA electricity category for the poor and switching to providing 900-VA power to overcome the issue of surplus electricity supply that the state's electricity company, PLN, was currently facing.
Abdullah pointed out that the 35-gigawatt power plant development program launched by the government had led to PLN experiencing an excess supply of up to six gigawatts as of now.
In addition to proposing the elimination of the 450-VA electricity category and switching to 900 VA, he also proposed that electrical power of PLN household customers in the 900-VA category be increased to 1,300 VA.
He also suggested the government to provide free electric stoves to household customers, with the 450-VA power category, which would be switched to 900 VA, akin to the promotion of the kerosene to gas conversion program in the past, in which three kilograms of LPG were distributed.
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Translator: Sugiharto P, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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