PONTIANAK, thekabarnews.com—PLN has introduced limited load management across parts of West Kalimantan during scheduled maintenance at Bengkayang coal-fired power plant Unit 2. Meanwhile, authorities investigate a separate blackout that disrupted Batam and Bintan earlier this week.

The two incidents involve different electricity systems and causes. West Kalimantan’s restrictions stem from planned power-plant maintenance, while the Batam–Bintan outage resulted from an unexpected grid disturbance on Monday, Oct. 12.

In West Kalimantan, PLN said it needed to manage the remaining generating capacity. PLN took this action to keep the Khatulistiwa electricity system stable during the maintenance period.

“We are implementing load management to keep the electricity system stable and reliable while preventing a wider and longer outage,” PLN West Kalimantan Distribution Unit Communications Manager Mukhlis Zarkasih said in Pontianak on Thursday.

Areas that could experience interruptions include the regencies of Sintang, Melawi, Sekadau and Sanggau. Sambas, Bengkayang, Mempawah, Kayong Utara, Ketapang and Kubu Raya are also included, along with Pontianak and Singkawang.

PLN has asked customers to limit unnecessary electricity use during the evening peak period from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. While technicians worked on Bengkayang Unit 2, the utility said it was optimizing other available generators.

The Bengkayang plant is an important supplier to West Kalimantan. PLN previously reported that the Kalbar-1 facility has two units with a capacity of 100 megawatts each. Both units feed electricity into the 150-kilovolt Khatulistiwa network.

Separately, a major disturbance struck the Batam–Bintan interconnected system at around 6:37 a.m. on Monday. The outage disrupted electricity in Batam first. It then affected Bintan and Tanjungpinang. Here, recovery took longer because those areas depend heavily on power transmitted from Batam.

Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said initial reports pointed to several possible technical causes.

“Several networks in Batam experienced trouble because of lightning. They said there was a technical fault. There were three technical factors; one of them, they said, involved an animal—possibly a bat,” Bahlil said on Wednesday.

PLN Batam initially suspected that a wild animal entered the Sungai Harapan substation and interfered with electrical equipment. Some later reports identified the animal as a monkey. However, police and technical teams continued examining the site. The delay means investigators had yet to publish a comprehensive final finding on the outage’s cause.

Batam authorities reported that 406,083 of the 411,219 affected customers had regained electricity by early Tuesday. This represented a restoration rate of 98.8 percent. PLN had also restored 496.7 MW of the 501.8 MW affected by the disturbance. Batam Mayor Amsakar Achmad subsequently said the city’s electricity supply had returned to normal.

Recovery proceeded more slowly in Bintan and Tanjungpinang. Police said Bintan’s local generating reserve amounted to about 30 MW. This was well below the demand of roughly 100 MW. As a result, the island remained dependent on the Batam interconnection.

The blackout also disrupted water distribution and telecommunications services. Residents in several areas protested after enduring extended interruptions.

PLN Batam said eligible customers would receive automatic compensation through subsequent electricity bills under its service rules.

Reported adjustments include 10 percent of the monthly fixed charge for regular customers. In contrast, customers enrolled in reliability-based services may receive compensation calculated under their respective service agreements. Bahlil said he would coordinate with PLN for detailed confirmation.

Customers in both regions can monitor local conditions through PLN Mobile or Contact Center 123. Because restoration and load-management schedules may change, residents should rely on official PLN updates rather than unverified messages circulating online.