Norman Harsono, Jakarta – By 7:00 a.m. on Jan. 2, a day after heavy flooding blacked out parts of Greater Jakarta and Banten province, state-owned electricity company PLN was operating 21,214 out of 23,700 substations in Greater Jakarta and 13,686 out of 14,000 substations in Banten.
The company said in a statement that it had resumed operations at 2,524 substations in Greater Jakarta and 248 substations in Banten, primarily in South Banten and Serpong, which includes the BSD planned township.
PLN had shut down hundreds of substations for safety reasons amid the New Year's Day flooding.
"PLN apologizes for the temporary blackout. We are stopping the electricity supply until it is absolutely safe to restore power to prevent electric shocks," PLN executive vice president for corporate communications I Made Suprateka said in the statement on Thursday.
"Some customers whose neighborhood's flooding has receded have contacted [PLN] but we were unable to restore power. This could be because local substations are still flooded and thus, unable to supply electricity," he added.
The company noted that power had recently been restored to Joglo, Karang Tengah Permai, Puri Beta Cipadu, Ciledug Indah, Kayumas, Taman Asri Gaga Larangan, Bintaro, Ciputat, Ciracas, Kebun Jeruk, Kramat Djati, Marunda, Pondok Gede, parts of Pondok Kopi and Menteng.
Power still had not been restored to Pengadegan, Bandengan, Bulungan, Cempaka Putih, Cengkareng and Lenteng Agung.
PLN also urged residents in flooded areas to turn off their power meters – the main circuit breaker – unplug all electronic devices and move the devices to higher ground, away from the floodwater. Residents of inundated areas that still have running electricity can ask for it to be turned off by contacting the PLN call center at 123 or at the nearest PLN office.