Woman dies after electricity is cut off

[changilass]

Heard this story on the radio earlier. Sounds a bit iffy to me, she didn't die till nearly 3hrs after it was cut off, yet the family did not report it to the police till after she had died.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200705300947/death_of_woman_after_electricity_cut_off

[emb123]

I was aware yesterday and am completely outraged by it. It is the truth.

The latest information is that the contractor was asked to come in examine the breathing aparatus so he could see for himself as the family didn't have a certifcate of medical need although they would have been able to get one. He declined to come in but decided to just do his job. She died about two hours later.

They even refused to reconnect the power after Mrs Muliaga had died when the equivalent of social services asked them to until the bill (about £60) had been paid.

The contractor who 'killed her' still works for the company.


http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1157393

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4078471a11.html



If we consider that electricity is essential to most life in modern society then disconnections should only be considered in extreme cases in any country.

In future perhaps it would be more sensible for all disconnection authorizations of electricity (and water for that matter) to need a court order to be applied for and with an automatic trigger for social services in some form being obliged to become involved to examine the situation and assist if they are able.

This is more reminiscent of the sort of behaviour one might expect from a power company in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, hardly the actions one would expect to be condoned or capable of being justified in a civilised society.

[emb123]

I see that the first of the links above has a web page error.

I still have the page in my cache:
Charge could follow disconnection

The person who switched off power to an Auckland home, disabling vital medical equipment and leading to the death of a mother of four, could face charges.

Mercury Energy sent a technician to Folole Muliaga's home to disconnect the power as the family was behind on their power bill.

Folole, 44, was suffering from a cardio-respiratory complaint and needed oxygen from a breathing support machine to survive.

Family spokesman Brendan Sheehan says the technician who arrived at the house to disconnect the power supply spoke to Folole and she told him she needed electricity to operate the machinery. Sheehan says the technician said he was just doing his job, turned the power off and left.

The woman died a few hours after the power was disconnected.

The police are looking into what happened at the Muliaga house for a Coroner's inquest and say a criminal investigation could follow, depending on what they find.

Questions still remain over Muliaga's death but a leading criminal lawyer, Barry Hart, says the family could have a case.

"There is criminal responsibility and those who perpetrated it need to be accountable," he says.

Mercury Energy says it keeps a register of customers who have provided proof they need power for medical reasons so their life line is never unplugged.

But, Folole Muliaga was not on that list. And the company says when its contractor went to the house he was never told she had a life-threatening condition.

"There'd been contact with them for the preceding seven weeks or so about an outstanding amount of around $160 to $200," says Doug Heffernan of Mercury Energy.

"From my information the contractor was not told that retaining electricity supply would be threatened to life."

Half yearly results show Mercury's parent company, Mighty River Power, made $70 million. The Muliaga family owed them just under $170 in overdue power fees.

The Green Party says the company's actions are mercenary and a full public inquiry is needed.

New Zealand First deputy leader Peter Brown says the situation as deplorable. He is urging police to investigate and consider laying a charge of manslaughter, or murder, against those responsible if it is proven the power cut contributed to the woman's death.

"Nobody at all should have die because they haven't paid their powerbill," says Brown.

But Mercury says it made several attempts to contact the family about its overdue account, but got no response.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard says accounts of what happened on the day are conflicted, but he expects high standards from government agencies.

"If there is any culpability on behalf of the SOE, the government will expect full accountability, but until the situation is clearer I am not going to pass further judgement."

"It is certainly my expectation that all SOEs should have in place proper processes to ensure that lives are not put at risk by their actions and that any contractors employed by them are bound by these processes."

He says there are certain conflicts with information that has been made public so far, but won't say what they are.

"I believe the correct authority to investigate this and sort out the facts is the police who are now investigating the issue," Mallard says.

The Consumers Institute says this case is not just about who is right or wrong in law, and there is a real ethical issue at stake.

"It is incumbent on a power company to have some humanity towards the people it serves," says Sue Chetwin of the institute.

Mercury says it is 100% confident it acted responsibility and the contractor who turned off the power is still working for the company.

[emb123]

This case really bothers me. I cannot say how strongly I am appalled by it.

This an update.
The full article which runs to 3 pages is much easier to read at the host site in the link.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10443049

Power cut death: It should never have happened - Prime Minister

8:35AM Friday June 01, 2007
By Louisa Cleave
Mercury Energy's James Moulder (left) and parent company chief Doug Heffernan say they did no wrong.

* Listen to Audio: Clark roasts Mercury Energy (Newstalk ZB)


The Prime Minister has launched a scathing attack on Mercury Energy, which is standing firm insisting it did nothing wrong when it cut power to a South Auckland home shortly before a sick woman died.

Helen Clark told Mercury Energy this morning that it should "stop digging".

She said the death "should never have happened and I hope it never happens again".

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.

Mother of four Folole Muliaga, 44, died on Tuesday less than three hours after a contractor cut electricity to her home, which meant she couldn't use her oxygen machine.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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

[j4bberw0ck]

There's another story here:

"Millions of Africans condemned to death because Green climate campaigners want them to bypass fossil fuels and go on to renewable energy".

This story isn't about one unfortunate lady; it's about millions of unfortunates. The climate loonies want them to work off solar cells and 12V DC.

Just in the interests of balance, you understand.

[Tubthumper]

J4bberwock
I suspect that your avatar, regarding 'give a damn' may not be altogether appropriate...

[emb123]

Sorry Jabberwock, I can't see the relevance. :confused

How linking green campaigners harping on about the climate and renewable energy is actually going to impact in Africa (ever heard of a DC-AC inverter and step up transformer btw ?) and an innocent woman who is now dead to provide balance is beyond me.