KEY POINTS:
From today, Mercury Energy customers facing power disconnection will receive a personal phone call to check whether there are medical or hardship reasons not to cut off the electricity.
The change is one of a number of new initiatives introduced in the wake of the death of South Auckland woman Folole Muliaga who died three hours after the power to her home was cut, leaving the oxygen machine she relied on inoperable.
Mercury Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned Mighty River Power, ordered the power cut because of an overdue power bill of $168.40.
The family have maintained the contractor who cut the power saw the oxygen machine but ignored pleas from the family not to switch the power off.
Mrs Muliaga's husband, Lopaavea Muliaga, had contacted Mercury one month before his wife's tragic death to try to arrange payment terms.
But due to the Privacy Act the company would not discuss the bill with him without his wife's authority because the account was in her name, not his.
Mighty River Power chief executive Doug Heffernan today announced new initiatives designed to prevent similar tragedies.
The new processes, which came into effect today, aimed to improve the company's ability to identify and assist vulnerable customers who were medically dependent or suffering from financial hardship, Mr Heffernan said.
"We made a commitment that we would learn from the Muliaga tragedy and take quick action to improve our credit management systems," he said.
"This has been our top priority and we are confident that our new procedures will do our part to prevent another similar tragedy occurring in the future."
The changes include new safeguards and more flexible systems.
They include:
* All customers have been written to advising they can register a medical dependency or financial hardship by contacting the call centre.
* Overdue bills and credit letters have been redesigned to contain additional information on the steps to avoid disconnection.
* A personal phone call will be made to customers with overdue accounts in the week before scheduled disconnection to establish whether or not a hardship or medical dependency situation exists. No disconnection will take place if genuine need is established.
*New disconnection guidelines for contractors with an explicit instruction not to disconnect where any doubt exists in relation to medical dependency or financial hardship.
*Call centre staff have been instructed to seek more detail of medical or hardship situations when customers call, regardless of whether they were the account holders.
*The customer's account history will also be reviewed and, if warranted, social agencies will be alerted, subject to Privacy Act requirements.
* Introduction of more flexible payment and part payment options, in conjunction with social agencies, on overdue power bills.
Mr Heffernan said disconnections for electricity bill arrears averaged about 35 per day and the new measures should see this number drop.
The active cooperation of government and community organisations would be needed to ensure the new systems worked well, he said.
"Financial hardship is a social problem and it requires a co-ordinated community response. It requires us all to play our part, and that includes not just the power industry but social agencies and government as well."
Mercury had stopped all disconnections after Mrs Muliaga's death and these would not resume until it was satisfied the new safeguards were working, Mr Heffernan said.
The company would continue to work with the Electricity Commission and other industry groups on strengthened guidelines to assist vulnerable customers.
The investigation into Mrs Muliaga's death is now with the coroner.
The new guidelines
The electricity sector could face regulations if a new set of guidelines is ignored.
The Electricity Commission has released the guidelines for power companies dealing with potentially vulnerable clients.
The guidelines require companies to regularly inform customers on their payment options, provide customers with an opportunity to identify themselves as vulnerable, consult the Ministry of Social Development if vulnerable customers are unable to pay and visit a customer's home before they disconnect the power.
Power companies are required to report to the commission on their rate of compliance with the guidelines.
The commission has said that if the guidelines are not followed, the commission will look at recommending regulations be put in place.
The rate of compliance will be published on the commission's site.
- NZPA
