Call for more care for electricity customers

Everyone Connected is a campaign calling on the Electricity Authority to make changes to benefit consumers who are struggling to pay their bills.

Electricity is essential for health and wellbeing. Most of us rely on it to stay warm, cook dinner and keep the lights on. But the Electricity Authority – who sets the rules for retailers – is not doing enough to protect people who are struggling to pay their bills.

The campaign is calling for the following changes:

• ban disconnection fees in cases of unpaid bills
• ensure prepay electricity (used by many households with poor credit ratings) is no more expensive than post-pay plans, and to publish prepay disconnection data
• make the Consumer Care Guidelines mandatory. These guidelines are important because they set out how retailers should protect consumers who are medically-dependent on electricity, and how they should prevent disconnections.

DPA is supportive of this campaign as these changes would be beneficial for disabled people. We know that disabled people are more likely to experience energy hardship. This is because disabled people are more likely to be unemployed, have lower incomes, and stay at home during the day. Disabled people are also more likely to live in a home that's damp and mouldy, and to be living in a home that's not heated at all.

Find out more and show your support for the Everyone Connected campaign.