PLN, Paiton close to agreement on tariffs
Saturday, August 4 2001 - 02:52 AM WIB
Source: Kompas daily, Jakarta
Negotiations between state electricity company PT PLN and private power producer PT Paiton Energy Corporation (PEC) have reached a level that would likely lead to an agreement on the electricity pricing, Kompas daily reported on Saturday.
PEC president Ronald P Landry told the daily that his party remained on its position that it wanted to sell its electricity at a bit over 5 US cents per kilowatt-hour.
PLN, on the other hand, insisted that it could not buy electricity at that level, considering that it sold its electricity at a bit over 3 US cents per kWh to its customers.
Landry said that the differences in prices between PLN and PEC made the two parties less flexible in their negotiations, therefore, he hoped that the new government would intervene in the negotiations.
Ho hoped that the new energy minister in the new Cabinet would continue policies and achievements made by caretaker energy minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
When asked to comment PEC's loss at a pre-trial court battle against PLN labor union, Landry said that the lawsuit by the union was counterproductive for both PEC and PLN, and would not benefit any party. (*)