Bekasi City's fire and rescue service (Disdamkarmat) recorded 314 fires in 2025, with estimated losses of Rp43.4 billion. Its head, Abi Hurairah, named electricity as the leading cause at 206 incidents, and homes as the most common place to burn, at 121 incidents. The figures were released in early January 2026 and reported by RRI.
The data does not split fires by season. In the rainy season, the complaint homeowners raise most often is smaller than a fire: the MCB or ELCB in the panel drops during a downpour, even though nobody has just switched on the AC or the washing machine. BMKG expects the rainy season to peak across most of Indonesia in December 2026, carrying on into January and February 2027. That leaves roughly six weeks to find the cause before the rain arrives every afternoon.
An MCB and an ELCB protect against different things
An MCB (miniature circuit breaker) cuts the power when a circuit is overloaded or shorts out. It is not designed to protect people from electric shock. That job belongs to the RCCB, which most people in Indonesia call an ELCB, which the 2020 Indonesian wiring code (PUIL 2020) calls a residual current protective device (GPAS). It compares the current going out on the live wire with the current coming back on the neutral. A difference means some current is leaking to earth, through water or through a person. The class commonly used in homes trips at 30 mA. Some panels use an RCBO, which combines both functions in one module.
The device that trips is your first clue.
| What trips | Pattern | Most common suspect |
|---|---|---|
| ELCB / RCCB | Only during or after rain | Water in an outdoor socket, a porch light fitting, or a junction box in a ceiling with a roof leak above it |
| One MCB group | During rain, light load | A short circuit on that circuit, usually a wet connection |
| One MCB group | When several big appliances run at once | Overload, nothing to do with rain |
| MCB at the kWh meter | Drops along with the others | A major fault inside the house, or the connected capacity exceeded |
Tracing the source, step by step
Do this with a dry floor and dry hands. If the panel or a socket looks damp, smokes, or smells burnt, stop and call an electrician.
- Write down what time it tripped, heavy rain or drizzle, wind or no wind. The pattern helps whoever repairs it.
- Unplug everything. Reset the device that tripped. If it holds, plug appliances back in one at a time. The one that trips it again is most likely the culprit, often a water pump or water heater with a part starting to leak.
- If it still trips with nothing plugged in, the fault is in the wiring. Switch off every branch MCB, reset the ELCB or main MCB, then switch the branches back on one by one. The branch that trips the protection is the circuit to inspect.
- Leave that branch off until it is checked. The other circuits keep working, so the house does not have to sit in the dark.
Step three only works if the panel is split into several MCB groups. A panel with one MCB for the whole house makes tracing a much longer job.
Weak spots in a two-storey house
In a two-storey house with a carport and a flat roof deck, the points that get wet are usually outside and up top:
- sockets in the carport or on an outside wall, used for washing the motorbike or charging a vehicle;
- porch, garden, and gate light fittings;
- the water pump and the automatic float switch on the rooftop tank;
- the outdoor AC unit on the balcony or upstairs deck;
- junction boxes and downlights in the upstairs ceiling, right under any leaking part of the roof.
Outdoor sockets should have a spring-loaded cover rated IP44 or higher and sit well above the carport floor. For socket placement when charging an electric motorbike, see charging an e-motorbike at home.
Shortcuts that make it worse
Some people wedge the switch or pull the ELCB out of the panel because it is "too sensitive". Others swap in a higher-amp MCB so it stops dropping. All of these remove the protection and leave the fault in place. An ELCB that trips every time it rains is usually working as designed: it has found current going somewhere it should not. An old ELCB can trip for no reason, but you can only conclude that after the circuit has been checked. An MCB rated above what the cable can carry lets the cable heat up first. The fire service data does not say how many of the 206 electrical fires started with an overheated cable, but an overheating cable is one of the likeliest routes. The wider fire picture in the city is covered in Bekasi fires and wiring faults.
The wiring inside is the owner's responsibility
Article 29(2) of Law 30/2009 on Electricity puts the duty to keep the consumer's own installation safe on the customer. PLN's responsibility ends at the kWh meter; the cables, panel, and sockets inside are the owner's. ESDM Regulation No. 7 of 2021 made SNI 0225:2020, the General Requirements for Electrical Installations (PUIL 2020), mandatory, and low-voltage installations in residential buildings fall within its scope. Inspectors use this standard to decide whether an installation passes its operational worthiness certificate (SLO).
For repairs, use an electrician who holds an electrical competency certificate, Ask them to run an insulation resistance test on the suspect circuit, press the test button on the ELCB, and write down what they find. A seven-point check for a newly handed-over house is in electrical audit before move-in. If it turns out the power cut came from PLN's network rather than your house, your compensation rights are explained in rainy-season power cuts.
What to ask when viewing a house
All of this is easier when the panel is laid out well from the start. Few buyers open the electrical panel during a viewing, yet what is inside decides how much hassle the owner has each rainy season. Ask how many MCB groups there are, whether an ELCB or RCBO is fitted, where the outdoor sockets are, and whether the unit has its SLO. The Emerald 70 house at Kingspoint Residence on Jl. Raya Perjuangan, North Bekasi, has two storeys on 47.25 m² of land with 70 m² of floor area, in a flood-free area about five minutes from Bekasi Station. The marketing team can answer each of these questions before you pay a booking fee.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my ELCB trip every time it rains?
An ELCB or RCCB cuts the power when current leaks to earth. In the rain, the usual cause is water getting into an outdoor socket, a porch light fitting, or a ceiling junction box under a roof leak. A tripping device is usually working as designed, so find the wet spot rather than removing the ELCB.
Can I fit a higher-amp MCB so it trips less often?
No. MCB size is matched to the cable on that circuit. An oversized MCB lets the cable overheat before it cuts out, and electricity caused 206 of the 314 fires in Bekasi City in 2025, according to the city's fire and rescue service.
Who pays to fix the wiring inside the house?
The owner or occupant, unless it is a new house still within the developer's maintenance period. Article 29(2) of Law 30/2009 on Electricity requires consumers to keep their own installation safe. PLN's responsibility stops at the kWh meter.
References: RRI, “Kebakaran di Bekasi Tembus 314 Kejadian Sepanjang 2025” (5 January 2026); CNBC Indonesia, “BMKG Ungkap Awal dan Puncak Musim Hujan di RI” (25 September 2026); ESDM Regulation No. 7 of 2021 (JDIH ESDM); SNI 0225:2020 General Requirements for Electrical Installations 2020; Law No. 30 of 2009 on Electricity. This article is for information only and does not replace an inspection by a certified electrician.
Want to know what is in a Kingspoint unit's panel?
Ask about the number of MCB groups, leakage protection, and outdoor socket locations in the Emerald 70 units still available on Jl. Raya Perjuangan, North Bekasi.
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