Jakarta – State power utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has reported a 2005 loss that is more than double that of the previous year after higher fuel prices increased its electricity generating costs.

PLN ran up a total after-tax loss of Rp 4.92 trillion ($546 million) last year, the company said in its 2005 financial report released Tuesday, as compared to Rp 2.02 trillion a year earlier.

PLN's total operating expenses increased by 27 percent to Rp 76.02 trillion, with the company having to spend more on fuel and lubricants for its oil-fired power plants. The company's fuel costs surged by 52 percent to Rp 37.35 trillion after the government eliminated fuel subsidies for industrial users in June last year.

PLN uses oil-based fuels for 30 percent of its generating capacity of 21,700 megawatts (MW).

PLN only booked total revenue of Rp 76.54 trillion last year, although this marked an increase on the Rp 62.27 trillion it earned in 2004. Other expenses and taxes totaled Rp 5.44 trillion.

The company also reported that its liabilities had increased to Rp 55.13 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2005, from Rp 52.25 trillion the year before, although its assets also increased to Rp 220.84 trillion from Rp 211.79 trillion previously.

PLN is likely to face further losses this year, with crude prices creeping up once again, having recently reached $74 a barrel. The government has agreed to provide a subvention of Rp 17 trillion for PLN this year but overruled the company's proposal for to hike its power prices.

The government has launched a crash program to build a number of non oil-fired power plants with a total capacity of 10,000 MW over the next three years to help PLN save up to Rp 45 trillion in annual fuel costs and to meet rising domestic demand for electricity.

PLN signed an agreement with Chinese investors last week for the construction of coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 7,000 MW. The government is seeking financial support for these projects during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to the Middle East this week.

Meanwhile, PLN's newly-appointed chief commissioner, Al Hilal Hamdi, has said that the company plans to issue Rp 2.5 billion in sharia bonds to help finance the construction of further coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 2,000 MW.