KEY POINTS:
The family of Folole Muliaga says the Government has not done enough to stop the disconnection of people's electricity supplies.
Muliaga family spokesman Brenden Sheehan says regulating the industry is the only answer as there is nothing to stop companies ignoring guidelines as they have done in the
past.
He says there needs to be regulations that are enforceable and for companies to be penalised if requirements are not met.
Mr Sheehan will be making the family's views known in the consultation period.
Immediate response
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.
The Cabinet yesterday opted to bring in stronger guidelines for retailers to comply with, rather than to immediately move for mandatory regulations.
Prime Minister Helen Clark, whose response to Mercury Energy's disconnection of power to Auckland mother Folole Muliaga has been notably swift, said the new guidelines for retailers would be "much stronger in their wording".
"For example, we're moving from 'should' to 'must', and 'will be required to'," she said shortly before flying to Australia yesterday.
"It's not going to be enough for retailers to just say 'no, we weren't required to' [follow the guidelines]," she said.
Mercury Energy disconnected power to Mrs Muliaga's home and oxygen machine because of an overdue account, and hours later she died.
The company was subject to voluntary guidelines on how to deal with low income customers, but it did not follow them because it was not required to.
The new guidelines will require that electricity retailers advise consumers who may have difficulty paying their bills of assistance available from government agencies and community service providers.
The guidelines will also put a temporary ban on companies cutting off power to customers who are deemed vulnerable.
Power retailers will have to take steps to identify vulnerable consumers who are having trouble paying their bills, and to consult the Ministry of Social Development before their power is disconnected.
"At no time during this process can a retailer disconnect a vulnerable consumer," Helen Clark said yesterday.
There will be a period of consultation on how vulnerable is defined.
Early indications are that the definition will apply to people who if for reasons of age, health or disability, disconnection of electricity presents a clear threat to their health or wellbeing, or a member of their household's health or wellbeing.
Electricity retailers will also be required to identify consumers who are reliant on electricity for medical equipment to maintain life, and not disconnect those customers.
The tougher guidelines are being prepared by the Electricity Commission, which will spend a month consulting affected organisations.
The companies will then have three months to implement the guidelines, and during this time they will be monitored by the Electricity Commission.
Helen Clark said the commission would report to the Cabinet by the end of February with the results of its monitoring programme, and a recommendation on whether mandatory regulation was necessary.
Asked yesterday if the Beehive was effectively giving power companies a second chance by not regulating them immediately, the Prime Minister said that was not the case.
"It's not a second chance, it's saying there's going to be much stronger guidelines," she said, adding that the existing Electricity Act did not provide the Government with the power to immediately turn the existing guidelines into regulations.
The Government will introduce amendments to the Electricity Act this year to make regulation easier, should it be needed later.
Helen Clark said she hoped the new guidelines would reduce the rate of disconnections by electricity retailers, who she claimed had learned a lot from the Muliaga case.
"I envisage that we will get good compliance," she said.
"I think we're going to get a lot of improvement."
The Prime Minister sidestepped questions about whether she had confidence in Mercury Energy parent company Mighty River Power's chief executive and chairwoman.
She said that was a matter for State-Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard.
