PT PLN Batam is investigating a widespread power outage that started on the morning of Monday, October 12, 2026, and cut supply across Batam, Bintan and Tanjungpinang in Indonesia’s Riau Islands Province. The incident affected households, industrial users and data centre facilities in a market positioned as a regional hub for digital infrastructure and cross-border energy projects.
Key Facts At A Glance
- The outage began at about 06:37 WIB on October 12, 2026, starting at the Sungai Harapan substation in Sekupang, Batam.
- Reporting placed the number of affected PLN customers in Batam and Bintan at 411,219.
- PLN Batam’s preliminary indication is that a wild animal entered the substation area, but the exact cause has not been confirmed.
- The Riau Islands Regional Police have opened an inquiry into the cause.
- PLN Batam said all affected substations and transmission lines were restored from Monday night.
- Data centre facilities were among the affected customers; Batam hosts about 20 such facilities.
- Compensation of 10% of the monthly load charge applies to regular customers if service standards were exceeded, and 15% to 25% of electricity usage charges for special reliability customers.
- PLN Batam plans dual supply from two substations for data centres, along with more regular network maintenance and additional generating capacity.
The outage spread across Batam, Tanjungpinang and Bintan from Monday morning, October 12, 2026, and also cut clean water supply to residential areas because water pumps could not run without power. PT PLN Batam Corporate Secretary Rudi Antono said the disturbance began at 06:37 WIB at the Sungai Harapan substation in Sekupang and then affected supply across several parts of Batam. Separate reporting put the number of affected PLN customers in Batam and Bintan at 411,219.
Cause Under Investigation
Based on early indications, PLN Batam said the disturbance is suspected to have been triggered by a wild animal entering the Sungai Harapan substation area, causing a shock to the electrical installation. Antono stressed that technical teams and authorities are still tracing the exact cause, so the wild animal explanation is not yet a final conclusion.
The Riau Islands Regional Police began investigating the cause of the blackout, confirming the inquiry by telephone on Tuesday night, October 13.
Restoration And Compensation
PLN Batam said restoration involved system checks, recovery of generating units, system synchronisation, and normalisation of transmission and distribution networks. All affected substations and transmission lines were restored from Monday night, and supply to all affected customers in Batam City has resumed. Bisnis.com separately reported that follow-up outages slowed water service recovery in several areas of Batam.
PLN Batam said customers are entitled to compensation if the outage exceeded agreed service quality standards or service level agreements. For regular customers, compensation is set at 10% of the monthly load charge under Riau Islands Governor Regulation No. 22 of 2017. Special reliability customers, such as industrial estates and data centres, may receive 15% to 25% of their electricity usage charges under their service contracts. Compensation will be applied automatically as a deduction on the next billing period.
Data Centre Exposure
PLN Batam Communications Manager Yoga Perdana Sulastama confirmed on October 13 that data centre facilities operating in Batam were among the customers affected. To prevent recurrence, PLN Batam plans to strengthen its system and network, specifically improving supply quality to data centres through a dual-supply scheme from two substations, regular network maintenance and additional generating capacity.
Citing research and digital infrastructure indices as of October 2026, Bisnis.com reported that Batam operates about 20 data centre facilities, the second-largest concentration in Indonesia after Jakarta. Projects in the area include a DayOne campus of up to 511 MVA in the Kabil Industrial Estate and the 100 MW NeutraDC Nxera Batam hyperscale project, a joint venture of Telkom Indonesia and Singtel.
Publicly available details on the technical sequence of the failure, the full outage duration by area, and the final cause remain limited pending the conclusion of PLN Batam’s and the police investigations.