REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The National Energy Council (DEN) hopes the government can approve the National Energy General Plan (RUEN) soon, because the plan is urgently needed to help address the country`s energy problem at present and in the future. "The RUEN is being prepared based on the National Energy Policy (KEN) plan, drafted from inputs given by DEN," said Lobo Balia, the DEN's acting Secretary General, after attending the Eighth Session of DEN on Monday.
"The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resource is so far the only body that handles energy policy, but in the future the national energy policy will involve other authorities such as the transportation ministry, the environmental affairs ministry, and the finance ministry," he stated.
KEN includes eight points: energy provision priority; energy source use; national energy reserves conservation and diversification; environmental safety; pricing, subsidy, incentives, and infrastructure in the energy industry; energy research and development; institutionalization; and funding. "The KEN plan will be presented in the near future to the House of Representatives (DPR-RI) for approval, before being implemented by the government," Lobo said. On March 7, 2012, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the first plenary session of DEN outlined three broad guidelines for the drafting of KEN: global and national aspects, as well as world oil prices.