PNG Power Blames Old Systems for Nationwide Easy-Pay Breakdown

A prolonged disruption to electricity purchases across Papua New Guinea has exposed weaknesses in PNG Power Limited’s infrastructure, with management pointing to aging technology and offshore systems as key causes.

The outage affected households and businesses nationwide, leaving many struggling to access prepaid electricity tokens for several days.

PNG Power’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Bayly said investigations ruled out cyber intrusion, instead identifying long-standing technical faults that had worsened over time.

He revealed that the Easy-Pay system had been unstable for at least two weeks before it eventually failed, despite efforts by technical teams to stabilise operations.

The CEO noted that outdated seven-digit meter boxes still in circulation contributed to the problem, while reliance on an overseas data centre further complicated restoration work.

Management is now moving to bring the system under local control by shifting operations to a Papua New Guinea-based data centre, aiming to strengthen reliability and response capability.

At the same time, customers affected by failed transactions during the outage can now access assistance through a newly established relief portal, with support teams helping users upgrade to modern meter systems.

"We noted about two weeks ago that the system started to fluctuate in terms of its performance," he said.