House not to conclude debate on electricity bill in March

The House of Representatives will not be able to approve a new electricity law this month as originally expected, a senior legislator told Petromindo.com on Tuesday.

?March is not our target. We are still deliberating the power bill,? said Agusman Effendi, vice chairman of the house commission in charge of energy and mineral resources.

Effendi said they were still deliberating the general stipulations of the government-sponsored power bill and had not yet touched on specific matters like electricity retail business.

But Effendi declined to say whether the House will be able to pass the bill into law in a couple of months. It will have a month-long recess starting March 29.

If passed into law, the new electricity law will end the distribution monopoly of state-owned PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

The law is expected to allow independent power generating companies to compete in selling energy directly to the public, a move experts say will encourage badly needed investment in the sector.

Indonesia will experience power shortages in 2003 and 2004 if extra capacity is not added, government officials said. (Leo)