KEY POINTS:
A contingent of Mercury Energy senior executives have visited the family of the sick woman who died after her electricity was cut off to express their sympathy.
A large team of executives from Mercury Energy and Mighty River Power, which owns it, went inside the Managere house where
Folole Muliaga, 44 and mother of four, died, to speak to the family.
Chief executive of Mighty River Power, Doug Heffernan, and General Manager Sales, James Moulder, wore business suits and traditional Samoan lavalavas. They were accompanied by the chair of Mighty River Power, Carole Durbin.
A member of the Mercury Energy team spoke in Samoan to the Muliaga family, while a large media contingent looked on.
Afterwards, Mr Heffernan said the executives had come to express their "best wishes, condolences, thoughts and sympathy" to the family.
A family spokesman said the gesture was a sign of remorse although it did not alter the investigation by police and other agencies as to what happened.
Mrs Muliaga died on Tuesday just hours after a mercury Energy contractor cut power to her home where she was using an electrically operated oxygen machine, because she was late in paying a $168.40 bill.
Miss Clark and Labour MPs Winnie Laban and Mark Gosche also spent about half an hour with the Muliaga family.
"We expressed our great sorrow at what happened. I believe the family accepted our visit in the spirit in which it was intended," she said.
Earlier in the day Miss Clark launched a scathing attack on Mercury Energy.
She told the power firm this morning that it should "stop digging" after it stood firm insisting it did nothing wrong when it cut Mr Muliaga's power.
The Prime Minister said the death "should never have happened and I hope it never happens again".
Helen Clark said Mercury needed to stop concentrating on defending its actions and be more open.
"I think there is a very confusing situation here from Mercury Energy and my advice to them would be to stop digging right now," she said.
"The public is entitled to full accountability on this."
She also hinted at a toughening of the rules under which power companies operate, saying every power supply firm should be made to consult the Ministry of Social Development before any customer's power was cut off.
Her family said the contractor ignored pleas not to disconnect the power because Mrs Muliaga needed it to run the device.
Helen Clark said the contractor had seen a tube in Mrs Muliaga's nose, which should have been enough to halt the disconnection.
"You don't have a tube in your nose unless it's going to be connected to something. All of this should have set off alarm bells about the seriousness of the family's situation," she said.
A spokeswoman for the power firm told Newstalk ZB it had no comment to make as it would be "inappropriate".
Mercury yesterday tried to shift the focus away from its actions and those of the contractor who visited the Mangere home on Tuesday.
General manager James Moulder said he felt sure the power supplier was in the clear.
"I'm confident that the processes we have put, the communications we had with the customer, were very clear about the circumstances that would occur."
But Helen Clark told Radio New Zealand today: "I'm prepared to accept that he went into the room, that the oxygen equipment was there, and again to proceed with a disconnection at that point is simply incredible to me."
Miss Clark said the Government had not had any more information from Mercury, the retail arm of state-owned power company Mighty River, since the letter on Wednesday.
That letter said that other than seeing the tube in Mrs Muliaga's nose the contractor had not been made aware of her respiratory condition.
It also spelt out the process by which it warned and then notified customers that they would be cut off.
But Miss Clark said the notices the Muliaga family seemed to actually get were quite ambiguous and one easy interpretation of their most recent bill was that they had until June 13 to pay the outstanding amount.
Miss Clark said since last year there had been Electricity Commission guidelines for retailers on how to assist low income consumers in regard to payment. There was also a protocol between power companies and social service agencies on the subject.
"It's simply impossible to see Mrs Muliaga's disconnection as in any sense being within the spirit or letter of these agreements."
Miss Clark said tighter regulation might be needed to address the issue, rather than relying on companies' goodwill.
She said the case, which has been reported around the world, also conveyed a bad image of New Zealand.
"This is intolerable. We all feel not just embarrassed but devastated that this incident of heartlessness by a company and a contractor has gone around the world conveying an image of New Zealand that we don't like of ourselves," she said.
"We are not a heartless people. People do care as can be seen in the outpouring of aroha and love for this family."
Miss Clark said even if Mrs Muliaga's death was not directly related to the power cut, Mercury's actions to cut the family's power in the circumstances was wrong.
The Muliaga family will today consult a lawyer to try and hold Mercury accountable.
The National Party has called the situation disgusting and urged State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard to take more action.
The minister is waiting until a police investigation is completed into a case which made headlines around the world.
Doug Heffernan, the chief executive of Mercury's parent company, state-owned Mighty River Power, yesterday said Mercury did not know of Mrs Muliaga's medical condition.
But he refused to go into detail about the contractor's version of events.
Dr Heffernan said there were two versions - one from the Muliaga family and the other from the VirCom EMS contractor who cut the power to the home.
Asked if the company had put a foot wrong, he said it hadn't.
"We've got no reason to believe anyone is not telling the truth. That's not our position to make that judgment."
He said the family's bill was overdue and attempts to pay it off were not keeping up.
The family had made two fortnightly payments and the bill, which arrived less than a week before Mrs Muliaga died, gave the outstanding amount as $168.40, due by June 13.
"The level of payments was less than the amount accruing. The family was getting further in debt despite payments being made," Dr Heffernan said.
VirCom chief executive Craig Shepherd said the company did disconnections for Mercury and other retailers "on receipt of written instructions".
An internal inquiry was being made and the company was co-operating with police, he said.
"It would be inappropriate for VirCom to comment further at this time," his press statement said.
Dr Heffernan said the contractor involved had previously used his discretion and averted a disconnection.
Mr Moulder said the contractor went to the home of a mother with a baby who told him, "If you disconnect me it's really going to leave me in some difficulty".
Said Mr Moulder: "He spoke to our people and a decision was made not to disconnect."
Mercury told the Government that Mrs Muliaga did not alert the contractor to her medical condition or her reliance on medical equipment.
In a briefing to Mr Mallard in his role as its shareholding minister, Mercury said the contractor noted Mrs Muliaga had a medical tube in her nose, but it was not connected to any equipment.
The woman's family claim the contractor was told power was needed to run the oxygen machine but he responded that he was "just doing my job".
Dr Heffernan said the contractor had advised the family to contact the power company.
He questioned how an electrician could make a medical assessment based on seeing the medical tubes.
The contractor was now on leave.
Mr Moulder denied saying earlier that the contractor should have contacted Mercury after discussions with the family.
The company chief said the Muliaga family received the required notice of disconnection - including a letter delivered by courier.
The Herald requested copies of the correspondence but he refused to supply it, saying the documentation was part of the police investigation.
The family made two payments totalling $106.90 last month, but still owed $168.40, on top of current charges of $136.
Their power notice gave them until June 13 to pay the total amount.
"Making small payments on larger bills does not mean you get out of that disconnection process unless you come and talk to us about it," Mr Moulder said.
Dr Heffernan asked Mercury customers considering switching power suppliers to wait for the full facts before judging the company.
Counties Manukau police have interviewed Mercury staff, the contractor and family members.
Yesterday, they said the inquiry was ongoing and would not reveal what facts had been gathered.
But they said the investigation team would also look at Mrs Muliaga's health conditions.
Dr Heffernan would not comment on the company's contact with Mrs Muliaga's relatives, or whether Mighty River Power would offer the family a formal apology.
The company was taking advice from the Samoan community and its Samoan workers.
Mercury was also quizzed on the re-connection of power to the household after Mrs Muliaga's death.
Mr Moulder said a person from Victim Support rang Mercury at 8pm on Tuesday to ask for the power to be reconnected "because a funeral was going to happen at some point".
The company did not make the connection between this call and Mrs Muliaga's death until about 11pm.
"When we did, I personally was on the phone to try to call the family to try to arrange reconnection that night. The earliest we could do it was the next morning, which we did."
Mr Moulder denied the company asked for payment first.
"We had already made arrangements to get out there and reconnect, irrespective of the status of the bill."
Dr Heffernan said power companies had been discussing ways to improve information sharing with health authorities so vulnerable customers could be identified.
"We've also been in contact with medical and other authorities to look at better processes to avoid situations where someone's life is at risk through the loss of electricity."
- with NZPA
