WHEN the electricity goes off outside Java, it is considered a routine thing. But when it happens in Jakarta, protests rain down on the State Electricity Company (PLN).

After the main circuit breaker at PLN's Cawang sub station exploded and burst into flames at the end of September, residents of Jakarta and the surrounding suburbs had to go through rotating power blackouts on a daily basis. The function of the circuit breaker is quite vital in PLN's