KEY POINTS:
The promise of new guidelines for dealing with people who have trouble paying their power bills has drawn an immediate response from Mercury Energy that it will introduce the changes quickly.
A spokesman for Mercury Energy said it would work with the Electricity Commission on the design and implementation of the new guidelines and would introduce the changes as soon as possible.
It responded quickly to an announcement from Prime Minister Helen Clark of new guidelines for electricity retailers that came with the "threat of regulation" if those guidelines were not followed.
Miss Clark said the Electricity Commission was preparing the guidelines and establishing a monitoring regime to ensure power companies implemented them.
Under the guidelines, electricity companies must:
* advise consumers having difficulty paying their bills about the assistance available from government agencies and community services;
* identify consumers who are having difficulty paying their bills and consult with the Ministry of Social Development before power is disconnected. At no time during this process should a "vulnerable" consumer's power be cut off;
* not disconnect power to any customer identified as being reliant on electricity for medical equipment to maintain life.
Miss Clark said last week that Mercury Energy's decision to disconnect power to Folole Muliaga's house when she needed an oxygen machine to help her breathe required a response from the Government.
Mrs Muliaga, a 44-year-old mother, died less than three hours after a contractor cut off the power to her home.
Mercury Energy ordered the power to be cut because of an overdue power bill of $168.40.
Miss Clark said previously that existing guidelines told power companies they should tell people about assistance that was available to help them pay bills before electricity was disconnected.
But she told reporters yesterday the new guidelines would be "much stronger" in wording.
"We're moving from 'should' to 'must' and 'will be required to'," she said.
The Electricity Commission would spend a month consulting with the affected organisations and electricity retailers would then have three months to start complying with the guidelines.
If there was insufficient compliance "we will move to regulate," Miss Clark said.
The Government could not regulate under existing legislation but would amend the Electricity Act to make such regulation possible.
But while that threat to regulate was there, Miss Clark believed electricity retailers to learnt from the "sad lessons" of the past couple of weeks and would comply.
"What's happened over the last couple of weeks has been a huge wake-up call and for those who don't have good practices they will be scurrying to put them in place."
- NZPA
