A major transmission failure in Merangin, Jambi, triggered a cascading blackout across Sumatra, affecting over 13 million customers and cutting 5,334 megawatts of supply. The incident highlights the vulnerability of the region's interconnected power system to single-point failures caused by lightning strikes. Beyond the grid instability, the outage led to fatal carbon monoxide poisoning as residents used gasoline generators in enclosed spaces. Businesses, particularly poultry farmers and food services, reported significant financial losses due to the prolonged loss of cooling and ventilation systems.
