It shouldn't be a privilege to have electricity, solo mum says

A solo mother of four says keeping her family warm and well-fed should not be a privilege, describing her battle over paying for electricity for more than a decade.

It was in 2011 when Hawke's Bay mum Jamie Holmes left a relationship plagued with domestic violence, that she had her first experience using pre-pay power.

She recalled putting $20 into the power account one night and by morning, it had all been used up and the house was cold.

Holmes told Breakfast she could only afford $40 or $50 a week and minimum top ups of $35 were too expensive for her.

"I tried so hard that my children wouldn't notice. I didn't want them to think we're poor, we can't afford things, are we going to be ok?"

She said she'd go out during the day to avoid the reality of home and try and make a fun dinner that didn't involve cooking.

The home she is living in now after transitioning from emergency housing came close to not having a power connection because companies would not sign her up due to her credit rating.

"Everyone turned me down," Holmes said.

It wasn't until she felt she had to "beg" her best friend to open a power account in her name that she was able to consistently keep her family warm.

Holmes said power companies would ask if the family was medically dependant on power.

"If the answer is no, kids don't come into account."

She said she remembers her property manager visiting and being disgusted to find the family all living in the lounge because it was the only room she could keep warm for her family.

Holmes described the shame she felt at not being able to provide. "I'm not good enough as a mum," she recalled thinking at the time.

"I was trying so hard to do the best for my kids and give them everything that I could.

"Twelve years later I am still being judged for my decisions because I wrecked my credit back then and I still have wrecked credit now I can't get out of," she said.

"It shouldn't be a privilege to have power."

Holmes' experience is not uncommon. In 2019, Consumer New Zealand found more than 40,000 households were using pre-pay power, many of those on low incomes or with bad credit.

Kimberley O'Sullivan, a researcher at the University of Otago's Department of Public Health says pre-pay consumers are more likely to be struggling than others, yet they're on a service that will cut out - much like a prepaid phone service.

There are gaps in the data too. More information is needed on both who is disconnected and for how long. O'Sullivan said the need for that information is urgent.

"It's potentially thousands of families siting at home disconnected and we don't know because we're not collecting that data and publishing them."

Research has found 50% of people on pre-pay plans had been disconnected in the past 12 months and of those, one third had been disconnected for at least 12 hours.

"These customers pay for power before they use it and often can't access discounts or varied pricing schemes," O'Sullivan said.