Electricity, water and waste for a house in Bali: connections and who holds them

This page is for a foreigner who buys, builds or rents a house or villa in Bali and wants to know who holds the electricity account, the water connection and any well, and what changes when the house changes hands. It is written by guests who want to understand, not by advisers. It is general information, not legal advice.

The texts we read, in force on 16 October 2026: UU 30/2009 on electricity (of 23 September 2009) as amended by UU 6/2023 (of 31 March 2023); Permen ESDM 27/2017 on service quality and connection costs of PLN (of 29 March 2017) as amended by Permen ESDM 18/2019 and 2/2025; PP 122/2015 on drinking water supply (of 28 December 2015); the customer rules of the regional water company of one regency, Badung (of 7 February 2022); UU 17/2019 on water resources (of 15 October 2019) as amended by UU 6/2023, PP 30/2024 and Permen ESDM 4/2026 on groundwater approvals (of 13 January 2026); UU 18/2008 on waste (of 7 May 2008) and Perda Bali 5/2011 (of 27 June 2011); UU 1/2022 on regional taxes and fees; and Permen LH/BPLH 11/2025 on domestic wastewater (of 4 September 2025). For what PLN asks of a customer we read the pages of PLN itself. The BPK database lists no other amendment of the articles we cite (UU 32/2024 repealed Pasal 33 and 69 huruf c of UU 17/2019, which this page does not use), and we found none; our search is not exhaustive.

What is not here. The electricity and water tariffs are on the Cost of living page. Bali's rules on sorting waste, plastic and wells in catchment zones are on Bali's own rules page. Who pays the utilities under a lease is a term of the contract: see the pages on renting a home and on leasing. What a village may ask is on the Village contributions page. The building approval (PBG) and the certificate of fitness of a building (SLF) are on the Building permits page. We name no company, office or officer; PLN and the regional water companies are named as the institutions to which the law gives these tasks.

PLN's customer portal says that a new connection and a change of power are now made in the PLN Mobile app. The lists of documents are inside the app, which we did not use. Where this page says what PLN asks, it names the source.

The law calls the buyer of power the customer (Konsumen): any person or entity that buys power from the holder of a licence to supply it for the public interest (UU 30/2009 Pasal 1 angka 7, as amended by UU 6/2023). Permen ESDM 27/2017 says the same for PLN (Pasal 1 angka 2, as restated by Permen ESDM 2/2025). Neither text names a nationality.

The customer may expect good service, continuous power of good quality, a fair price, repair after a fault and compensation for an outage caused by the supplier's fault, on the terms of the sale agreement. The customer must keep safe the installation after the meter, use the power for its stated purpose, pay the bill and follow the technical rules (UU 30/2009 Pasal 29(1) and (2), as amended). Every installation in use must hold a certificate of fitness for operation (SLO) (Pasal 44(4), as amended).

The sale agreement fixes the connected power (daya tersambung), the figure in VA that people call the capacity of the connection (Permen ESDM 27/2017 Pasal 1 angka 8, as restated by Permen ESDM 2/2025). A connection is either regular (the bill comes after use) or prepaid (you buy a token before use) (Pasal 1 angka 3 and 4), and the customer chooses at a new connection or a change of power (Pasal 9(2)). The tariffs are on the Cost of living page.

Only a regular customer pays a deposit (jaminan langganan), set at the national average bill of one month for the tariff class, and it is paid back when the agreement ends or the customer moves to prepaid, after the bills and other debts to PLN are counted (Pasal 12(1), (2) and (6)). PLN's own page says the same: prepaid customers pay none. A regular customer who pays after the due date pays a late fee (Pasal 13).

PLN also inspects meters and connections (penertiban pemakaian tenaga listrik, P2TL). A customer or a non-customer found to use power unlawfully can be given a back-bill, a temporary disconnection or the removal of the connection (Pasal 14 and 15). PLN's page lists four classes of breach, from those that affect the power limit to those by a non-customer.

What this means when a house changes hands. The customer is the party to the agreement with PLN, under the customer ID (ID Pelanggan) on the bill; the bill shows the name. It may be the seller, a former owner or a developer. The texts we read do not say whether unpaid bills, a back-bill or the deposit of the former customer pass to the next holder of the connection, and the PLN pages we could read do not say it either. Not confirmed: ask PLN in writing for the status of the account before you pay for the house.

PLN's Bali distribution unit describes the change of name (balik nama) on its official X account, in a post of 29 July 2025: in the PLN Mobile app choose Ubah Data Pelanggan, enter the customer ID and the new data, upload the KTP and proof of ownership, send, and wait for confirmation. We found no page of PLN with a fuller list of documents for Bali. PLN's customer portal says that new connections and changes of power are made in the app, whose lists we did not see.

One PLN group company outside Bali, which serves Batam only, lists on its own site for a change of name by an individual: a copy of the KTP, driving licence or passport; proof of ownership (a deed of sale, a land certificate, a plot letter, a gift deed or a statement of ownership from the developer); the last bill; and a power of attorney under stamp duty if someone acts for the customer. That is another company's list. It shows what one PLN company accepts, not a rule for Bali.

Can a foreigner hold an account in his or her own name? The legal texts define the customer as any person or entity and name no nationality. The PLN Bali post names the KTP, and the Batam company accepts a passport. We found no PLN text for Bali that says whether a passport or a KITAS is accepted. Not confirmed: ask PLN in writing.

When the owner leaves, the deposit of a regular customer is paid back after the bills are counted once the agreement ends (Pasal 12(6)); the page on selling and leaving covers the rest of closing a property.

PLN's customer portal lists a new connection (pasang baru), a temporary connection (sambung sementara) and a change of power (ubah daya), each with a cost simulation. It says that a new connection and a change of power are now made in the PLN Mobile app, and the app page says the customer picks the power and chooses prepaid or regular.

A customer who asks for a new connection or more power pays a connection fee (biaya penyambungan). For a standard network the amount is in Lampiran I of Permen ESDM 27/2017, which we do not copy. If the customer wants a special quality or a local regulation requires a special network, the extra cost is the customer's. PLN must announce the fee at each of its service units (Pasal 9(1), 10(1) to (3) and 11(1)).

Before PLN connects, the installation after the meter must hold a certificate of fitness for operation (SLO): UU 30/2009 Pasal 44(4), as amended, and Permen ESDM 27/2017 Pasal 18(1), as amended by Permen ESDM 2/2025. The cap on the SLO fee is in Lampiran III as amended in 2025, which we do not copy. The electrical stage of a build and its tests are on the page on the construction contract.

On bare land, whether a network reaches the plot, and at what cost, is for PLN to say. We found no text that sets a distance or a right of way for a new connection, and no official text that says a building approval (PBG) is required for one; PLN's cost simulation and a written answer from its service unit are the places to look.

Piped drinking water is run by a company that the regency or city owns (a BUMD; PP 122/2015 Pasal 1 angka 13). In Badung it is a Perumda Air Minum. The customer (pelanggan) is the person or entity registered as the recipient of the service (Pasal 1 angka 17). A direct connection to a house is one kind of service point, and every service point must have a water meter (Pasal 9). The tariff is set per regency: see the Cost of living page.

The customer has a right to water of the set quality, quantity and continuity and to information on the tariff and the bill. The customer must pay the bill, save water, look after the facilities and follow the company's procedures (Pasal 53). The company may fine late payment and disconnect a customer who does not meet these duties (Pasal 44), and it must provide a way to complain (Pasal 45).

Each company has its own customer rules. We read one, the director's regulation of the regional water company of Badung, 01/2022 of 7 February 2022. A new customer applies in the company's app with a photo of the KTP, the full address, a map location, an active phone number and, for a household, the connected electric power; the company may refuse an application because of the location or the available flow (Pasal 2). A change of name (balik nama) is asked for on a form, and the customer must report a change of ownership of the parcel (Pasal 3 and 4(2) huruf i).

Two rules of that text matter for a lease or a purchase. If a parcel is let, or its use passes for a time to someone else, the owner as customer stays responsible for all charges on the connection (Pasal 10(5)); and a new connection on rented land must be registered in the name of the owner, unless it is a company or a government body (Pasal 20 angka 12). A customer who does not pay after the stages of Pasal 12 is treated as having resigned, and the connection is restored only after all arrears and fines are paid (Pasal 13); the deposit (UJL) also covers part of unpaid bills (Pasal 1 angka 26).

We did not read the rules of the other eight regional water companies, and one company's rules must not be taken for another's. The Badung text names the KTP and does not say whether a foreigner may register with a passport or a KITAS. Not confirmed.

Water is not owned by the owner of the land. UU 17/2019 Pasal 7 says water resources cannot be owned or controlled by individuals, groups or businesses, and Pasal 8(7), as amended by UU 6/2023, says the right to water is not ownership, only a right to take and use a quota. Using water, for business or not, is done after a business licence or an approval, except where a regulation exempts it (see below), and neither can be rented or transferred, in whole or in part (Pasal 44(1) and (4), as amended).

For groundwater from a well, Permen ESDM 4/2026 (of 13 January 2026, under PP 30/2024) sets two routes. Use for business needs a business licence for groundwater (Izin Pengusahaan Air Tanah), applied for through OSS; the business fields include tourism, housing, offices and commercial areas (Pasal 2(2), 5 and 7). Use that is not for business needs an approval (Persetujuan Penggunaan Air Tanah), which an individual, a group, a government body or a legal entity may apply for (Pasal 2(3) and 4(2)). The office that issues it is the ministry, the governor or the regent or mayor, by the river basin (PP 30/2024 Pasal 115(1)).

For daily basic needs an approval is needed when use reaches 100 m3 a month or more per household, or per group when the well is shared; below that none is needed (Pasal 6(1) huruf a and (2) huruf a). Once the requirements are found complete and correct, the approval is issued within 14 working days at the latest, and the handling carries no charge (Pasal 8(8) and 20). The holder must, among other things, drill within one year, fit a water meter at the well outlet, build an infiltration well and let officials inspect (Pasal 9(2)).

Existing wells. Wells built or used without an approval before UU 6/2023 had a transition: an administrative fine and the duty to apply within three years of that law (Permen ESDM 4/2026 Pasal 15), which the Geology Agency of the energy ministry and the OSS system give as 31 March 2026. Those who did not apply in that period are subject to the sanctions of the law (Pasal 16(8)).

For a buyer, how an approval passes to a new owner is not clear in the texts. PP 30/2024 says an approval for an individual's daily needs lasts as long as the holder lives (Pasal 117(1) huruf a) and lists a change of the holder's name among the changes that can be made (Pasal 119(4) huruf c); the change article of Permen ESDM 4/2026 (Pasal 12) lists only changes of the flow and of the well's technical data and gives no procedure for a new holder. With the ban on transfer, we cannot say how a buyer takes over. Not confirmed: ask the issuing office.

Groundwater tax. A regency or city taxes the taking of groundwater, but taking it for basic household needs, small farming, small fisheries, small livestock, religious purposes and other uses that a regency regulation names is outside the tax (UU 1/2022 Pasal 4(2) and 65). How that exception applies to a house let to guests is not on this page: we found no text that says.

Bali's own rules on wells (no new bore wells in water catchment zones) are on Bali's own rules page. We found no other provincial text on groundwater approvals; our search is not exhaustive.

UU 18/2008 gives every person a right to waste service from the government or the party it appoints, and puts on every person the duty to reduce and handle household waste in an environmentally sound way, in the manner that a regional regulation sets (Pasal 11(1) huruf a and 12). Managers of residential, commercial and similar areas must provide sorting facilities (Pasal 13).

Perda Bali 5/2011 says the regency or city must collect and handle waste and may charge a fee for the service, set progressively by the type, characteristics and volume of the waste, with the way to calculate it left to a regulation of the regent or mayor (Pasal 17 and 18). It forbids throwing waste anywhere but the places set for it, burning it against the technical rules and open dumping (Pasal 31). The sorting duty of households, the village waste unit, the plastic rules and the Clean Bali circular are on Bali's own rules page.

National law lists the service of cleanliness (pelayanan kebersihan) among the public services for which a regency or city may set a fee (retribusi), paid by whoever uses the service (UU 1/2022 Pasal 87(3) and 88(1) huruf b). We did not read the nine regency and city regulations that set the fee and its calculation, so we give no amount and cannot say whether the owner or a tenant is billed. Whether the village also asks for a contribution for waste is a question for the village; contributions in general are on the Village contributions page. This page cites no criminal provision.

Permen LH/BPLH 11/2025 (of 4 September 2025; it replaced Permen LHK P.68/2016) says the person in charge of a business or activity that produces domestic wastewater must treat it before release, and sets quality standards and standard technologies by the daily volume (Pasal 2 to 6). For up to 3 m3 a day the duties include having sludge pumped out and recorded to the capacity of the unit, handing it to a licensed hauler or processor, and using standardised technology (Pasal 7). A business that sends its wastewater to a collection network or to a hauler or treatment service is excepted from the quality standard (Pasal 5).

The text speaks of an Usaha dan/atau Kegiatan, defined as any form of activity that may change the environment (Pasal 1 angka 8). It does not say in so many words whether one private house is such an activity, and we give no verdict. For up to 3 m3 a day its technical annex (Lampiran III A.1) says to use a ready-made septic tank or treatment unit certified to the national standard (SNI), or to build one to SNI, watertight, and that the effluent may not be allowed to soak into the ground. The business side of a villa let to guests is on the page on renting a villa to guests.

Who pays the electricity, the water and the waste is a term of your lease. The page on renting a home says that no article of the Civil Code's lease chapter deals with water, electricity, internet, waste or security, so the contract should say who holds each account, who pays it and how meters are read; the page on leasing covers the longer lease of land or a house.

What the texts on this page add. The duty to pay the supplier lies on the customer of record (UU 30/2009 Pasal 29(2) huruf d; PP 122/2015 Pasal 53(2) huruf a), whatever the lease says between you and the landlord. In Badung the owner, as the water customer, stays responsible for the water charges when the parcel is let, and a new water connection on rented land is registered in the owner's name. For electricity we found no text on a tenant as customer. Not confirmed.

Ask in writing and keep the answers. The questions that the texts above make sensible:

1. To the seller or landlord: whose name is on the electricity account (the ID Pelanggan and the name on the last bill), is it regular or prepaid, what is the connected power in VA, and is every bill paid to the day of handover?

2. To PLN: which customer is registered on this ID Pelanggan, what power is connected, is any bill, back-bill or inspection finding open, and what is needed to put the account in my name? Please answer in writing.

3. To the water company: is there a connection at the plot, in whose name, in which class and with what arrears? What does the company ask for a change of name? If there is no pipe, will the company connect the plot, and when?

4. On a well: which approval or business licence covers it, who issued it, under which number, in whose name and until when? How much water is taken a month, and is there a meter? If the well was built or used without approval, did the owner apply before 31 March 2026?

5. On bare land: does a PLN line and a water pipe reach the plot, and can the connections pass to it? Ask PLN for the cost of the power you plan in writing, and ask the water company whether it will connect the plot.

6. On wastewater: where does it go, a septic tank, a collection network or a hauler? When was the tank last pumped out, and by a hauler with a licence?

7. On waste: who collects it, who is billed, and under which regulation of the regency? Does the village ask for anything apart from the regency?

8. In a lease: which accounts stay in the landlord's name, who pays which, how are meters read, and what happens at the end to a deposit and to a balance on a prepaid meter?

Whether a foreigner may hold an electricity or a water account in his or her own name, with a passport or a KITAS instead of a KTP: no PLN or water company text for Bali that we read says.

The full list of documents PLN asks in Bali for a change of name and a new connection, which is inside the PLN Mobile app; and whether a tenant can become the customer.

Whether unpaid bills, a back-bill after an inspection or a deposit of the former customer pass to the next holder of an electricity or water connection.

The customer rules of the other eight regional water companies, and what any of them asks for a change of name.

How a groundwater approval passes to a buyer of the plot; whether a house let to guests counts as business use for the approval and for the groundwater tax; and the fine amounts of the transition that ended on 31 March 2026.

The regency and city regulations on the waste fee, and whether the owner or a tenant is billed.

Whether one private house is an Usaha dan/atau Kegiatan under Permen LH/BPLH 11/2025.

Whether PLN or a water company requires a building approval or another paper for a new connection: the texts we read do not say.