Payment Problems `Minor’ in Nelson

Power companies supplying the Nelson region say disconnections are a minor issue here.

TrustPower spokesman Graeme Purches said his company disconnected the electricity of about 0.05 percent of its 6000-7000 customers in the region.

TrustPower was helping more than 5000 people a month with alternative payment arrangements. He often saw Work and Income paying a power bill then having to do it again six months later because the customer had again not paid.

Contact Energy spokesman Jonathan Hill referred the Nelson Mail to the Electricity Commission when asked how many customers had been disconnected in the Nelson region in the last year. Disconnections were reported to the commission four times a year, he said.

Contact Energy “absolutely” followed industry guidelines about making payment arrangements for low-income customers and worked closely with social agencies, Mr Hill said. He could not quantify this but said it happened every day. He said Contact was the leading electricity retailer in the Nelson region.

Meridian Energy spokesman Alan Seay also referred the Mail to the Electricity Commission for figures on disconnections. The company had “good systems” involving several social agencies to help customers struggling to pay their power bills, Mr Seay said.

He noted Nelson power consumers did not have harsh winters to deal with and therefore were not as vulnerable as people further south.

An Electricity Commission spokesman said Nelson disconnection figures were not available because they had started being collected only this year . Besides, the numbers were not reported regionally but nationally.

Prime Minister Helen Clark revealed yesterday that welfare authorities deal annually with about 32,000 families unable to pay their power bills. She agreed it would be useful if the companies reported each year on the number of disconnections.

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