Listrik: A word that won't mean anything to you until your power goes out in Bali

The word listrik means electric in Bahasa and in Bali I know since the time I have been here that the supply is not always reliable. In my first year here, 2003 the power in Kuta or my neighborhood in Seminyak would go out without warning for a few hours at a time.

There have been press articles before about how Bali is maxing out its power supply and there was talk of building a power plan on he north coast. Recently however I saw TV news segments talking about the latest dilemma, no fuel. There is a power plant in Gilimanuk in west Bali, but most of our power comes via an undersea cable from Java. The power demands of Bali have grown massively in the last 20 years and when one considers the number of air-conditioners, TV's, fridges, lights, etc. that are on most of the time, its not surprising that we are running out of gas.

For people in hotels this should not affect you too much as the larger ones have their own generators. Guesthouses will not and places like internet cafes will out during a power outage.