Suroso Isnandar Replaces PLN Chief as Batam Blackout Spurs Service and Solar Push

PLN changes leadership after an outage affecting 411,000 customers

Suroso Isnandar was appointed president director of Indonesia's state electricity company PLN on October 14, 2026, replacing Darmawan Prasodjo as the utility faced scrutiny over a blackout in Batam and presidential instructions to overhaul its business and accelerate a solar power program targeting 100 gigawatts.

The appointment was approved at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting held through Zoom at about 6:30 p.m. Western Indonesia Time. PLN independent commissioner Andi Arief confirmed the decision. All directors and commissioners attended, along with representatives of the State-Owned Enterprises Regulatory Agency, known as BP BUMN, including its deputy head, Tedi Bharata.

Suroso, 55, will temporarily keep his previous position as director of project management and new and renewable energy. He takes charge after a blackout lasting 16 hours affected more than 411,000 electricity customers in Batam, disrupting water supplies and telecommunications in a city of about 1.3 million people.

Danantara Indonesia, the sovereign investment fund and PLN's controlling shareholder, described the management change as part of an effort to improve service quality and electricity reliability following the disruption. Its plans extend beyond the leadership appointment: PLN's Batam subsidiary is to move directly under Danantara.

The immediate demands on Suroso combine restoring confidence in everyday electricity service with carrying out a much larger investment agenda. Households and businesses need dependable power now, while President Prabowo Subianto has asked the company to improve efficiency, strengthen emergency preparations and speed up solar development.

One executive will hold two positions

Danantara chief operating officer Dony Oskaria confirmed that Suroso would retain his project management and renewable energy responsibilities during the transition. Explaining the temporary arrangement, Dony said:

For the time being, Suroso will serve as president director while retaining his previous position until a replacement is appointed,

Suroso has held that portfolio since June 18, 2025, under State-Owned Enterprises Ministerial Decision No. SK-159/MBU/06/2025. Keeping it places responsibility for major projects and renewable energy alongside his new authority over the company as a whole.

Andi said the shareholders changed only the president director position. Other directors and commissioners remain in place. No date was announced for appointing a permanent successor to Suroso's previous role.

Darmawan had served as president director since December 6, 2021, after becoming deputy president director on December 23, 2019. His departure ends almost five years leading PLN. Andi thanked him for his work on corporate transformation and expressed confidence that Suroso would continue it.

Three days brought a blackout, a palace meeting and a new chief

Batam's electricity disruption began before the leadership decision. The sequence brought emergency repairs, discussions at the presidential palace and a shareholders' meeting into the same short period.

• October 12: A major outage began early in Batam, affecting more than 411,000 customers and disrupting water and telecommunications services.
• October 13: Most services had been restored, although electricity supply remained under pressure.
• October 14, afternoon: Suroso attended a meeting with President Prabowo, Danantara chief executive Rosan Roeslani and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia.
• October 14, about 6:30 p.m.: PLN's extraordinary shareholders' meeting appointed Suroso to replace Darmawan.

Suroso attended the palace meeting while still serving in his previous director role. Afterward, he discussed electricity restoration in Batam and Bintan, the investigation into the outage and possible compensation for affected customers.

Danantara's explanation of the leadership change focused on better public service, a more reliable supply and faster responses to customer needs. Dony said the improvements were intended to support both households and business activity across Indonesia.

Batam's restoration accounts show continuing pressure

Suroso said on October 14 that electricity in Batam had recovered 100 percent, while restoration in parts of nearby Bintan was continuing. PLN Batam was also reported to be imposing rolling blackouts that day because demand exceeded available capacity.

Customers therefore faced two connected problems: recovering from the initial widespread failure and securing enough electricity to keep supply steady afterward. Rolling blackouts temporarily disconnect different areas in turn when the system cannot meet all demand at once.

Batam's position makes reliability especially consequential. The island near Singapore is a manufacturing and export centre, a free trade zone, a destination for visitors and the location of several large data centre projects. Its electricity network serves homes alongside factories, tourism businesses and facilities that depend on continuous power.

The disruption to water and telecommunications also showed how an electricity failure can spread into other essential services. The figure of more than 411,000 affected customers refers to electricity accounts, which can serve households or businesses, while the city's population is about 1.3 million people.

PLN investigates equipment and network failures

Suroso identified a problem involving one transformer and said PLN was tracing the causes of the Batam disruption. A transformer changes electricity voltage so power can move through a network and reach users at the appropriate level.

Bahlil described several technical problems, including lightning affecting electricity lines and a possible encounter involving a bat. His description of the animal incident was tentative. PLN's investigation was still examining the causes and identifying equipment or operating practices needing improvement.

Suroso also acknowledged that Batam's infrastructure maintenance arrangements needed work. PLN planned to review the maintenance of its network and equipment as economic activity increased electricity demand.

The review matters alongside repairs. Restoring a damaged component addresses the immediate failure; maintaining equipment, preparing spare capacity and managing demand help keep the system operating when another fault occurs. Rosan said PLN already had emergency arrangements, but those arrangements needed further improvement.

Customers await compensation checks

PLN said compensation would follow the applicable rules, with eligibility depending on the duration of the outage. Suroso said the company needed to check the relevant number of hours and would review compensation after concentrating on service restoration.

For affected customers, the next step is therefore an assessment of their outage against the regulatory conditions. Suroso gave no compensation amount, payment schedule or specific duration threshold in his remarks.

Bahlil said he would discuss the matter with PLN because the company understood the technical implementation. Suroso's position was that restoring electricity remained the first priority, followed by the compensation review.

The maintenance investigation and compensation assessment have different purposes. The first concerns how the failure happened and what needs fixing. The second concerns the remedy available to customers under electricity service rules. Both will shape how people experience PLN's response after power returns.

Prabowo's instructions extend to 100 GW of solar

President Prabowo used the October 14 palace meeting to call for faster transformation at PLN, according to Rosan. The instructions covered the company's business model, efficiency, productivity, responsiveness and a solar program targeting 100 GW of capacity.

A gigawatt equals 1,000 megawatts, making the stated solar ambition 100,000 megawatts. Capacity describes the maximum power equipment can produce under specified conditions. Actual solar generation changes with sunlight, weather and the operating conditions of the equipment.

Rosan said Danantara would work with PLN to assess the company and prepare proposals for the president. He linked that work to improving productivity and reducing the burden of electricity subsidies, the public money used to help cover electricity costs.

Suroso said Indonesia needed a range of alternative electricity supplies to meet rising demand. His temporary responsibility for both company leadership and renewable energy projects places him directly within that agenda.

Suroso's project experience includes involvement in the 1.2 GW Mentari Nusantara I solar project. The national ambition of 100 GW is about 83 times that project's stated capacity. The comparison illustrates the scale of the program, which will require work across generation projects and the networks carrying their electricity.

Danantara plans a different structure for Batam

Danantara said PLN's subsidiary serving Batam would move directly under the fund to better support its growth. The change would alter the subsidiary's place within the state investment structure as the island seeks electricity for expanding industrial and digital activity.

Rosan's wider review of PLN will examine how the company operates as a business and how it can become more efficient. He said Danantara and PLN would assess the options before presenting proposals to Prabowo.

Emergency readiness is part of that review. Rosan called for improvements to contingency plans, meaning the arrangements used when normal operations fail. For an electricity utility, those arrangements connect equipment failures with decisions about repairs, alternative supply and restoration priorities.

PLN management, meanwhile, said in its disclosure to the Indonesia Stock Exchange that the leadership change had no material impact on the company. It also said business activities would continue under applicable laws and principles of good corporate governance.

The existing management team remains responsible for delivering those activities. Yusuf Didi Setiarto continues as deputy president director, Sulistyo Biantoro as finance director and Nurlely Aman as director of legal affairs and human capital management.

Suroso brings experience across power systems and technology

Suroso was born in Klaten, Central Java, on August 12, 1971. He graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology, known as ITB, in 1994 with a degree specialising in power system engineering. He earned a Master of Science in power system engineering and management from Scotland's University of Abertay in 1999 and completed a doctorate in electrical engineering at ITB in 2025.

His career includes work at ScottishPower Generation between 2002 and 2007 and senior positions covering generation, transmission, system planning, digital technology and risk at PLN.

From 2019 to 2021, Suroso led PLN's Sulawesi Generation and Transmission Main Unit. He then headed the Java, Madura and Bali Load Dispatch Centre from 2021 to 2022. Load dispatch involves balancing electricity production with demand and directing how the power system operates.

He led PLN's Digital and Information Technology Unit from 2022 to 2023, became risk management director in September 2023 and moved to project management and new and renewable energy in June 2025. His experience also includes participation in the Indonesia Smart Grid Initiative, which promotes electricity networks using digital monitoring and controls.

Suroso holds the Qualified Risk Governance Professional certification and chairs the Indonesian Electrical Power Society, known as MKI. His combination of system operations, technology, risk and project responsibilities matches the range of tasks now facing PLN: maintaining supply, preparing for emergencies and building new electricity infrastructure.

Key Points

• Suroso Isnandar replaced Darmawan Prasodjo as PLN president director on October 14, 2026.
• He temporarily retains responsibility for project management and new and renewable energy until a successor is appointed.
• The appointment followed a Batam blackout lasting 16 hours and affecting more than 411,000 electricity customers.
• Suroso announced full restoration in Batam, while rolling outages were also reported that day and recovery continued in Bintan.
• PLN is investigating equipment and network problems and will assess compensation under the applicable outage rules.
• Prabowo called for business reforms, stronger emergency preparations and faster progress toward a solar program targeting 100 GW.
• Danantara said PLN's Batam subsidiary would move directly under the fund.