Bali is developing quickly, as more and more shops, restaurants, hotels and villas, and other tourism facilities pop up. The island ushers in millions of tourists each year, even taking the top spot on TripAdvisor’s best world destinations list, but not all of the island is moving so fast: five percent of the island still lives without electricity.
But state electricity company, PLN hopes to get that last five percent “on the grid.”
Right now, PLN has 1,304,195 subscribers. Of that number, 81.28 percent is households, 12.09 percent is businesses, 3.98 is public, 2.56 percent is “social,” and 0.08 percent is industrial, according to figures published by Bali Post.
Based on data collected by PLN, there are no villages living completely off the grid in Bali, meaning the households in Bali without electricity are scattered across different regencies and villages.
“Almost 95 percent of the population in Bali already uses electricity. However, all villages and towns have electricity,” said PLN Bali Distribution general manager, Nyoman Suwarjoni Astawa, at a press conference on Tuesday.
“There are about 5.5 percent of our brothers in Bali who are not enjoying electricity,” Astawa said.
To get electricity to those who don’t have it in Bali, PLN is trying to order a survey through Bali’s Udayana University to identify and target households without electricity.
“Hopefully within the next two to three months, we will coordinate with Udayana university to conduct a survey of all villages in Bali to know who are brothers and sisters are who have not been able to enjoy electricity,” Astawa said.
The government currently has a program, RTS, that helps fund electricity for economically disadvantaged households. Astawa anticipates this program kicking in to help Bali residents who will be freshly put on the power grid.
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