After years of worrying about whether she had enough to pay for electricity, a Hawke's Bay mother says she's not had to stress once this winter when she switched to a new provider.
Solo mum of four Jamie Holmes left a relationship plagued with domestic violence in 2011. It was then she first experienced using pre-pay power.
Holmes told Breakfast that she could not afford more than $50 a week of power. It saw her family sleep in the lounge and go without cooked meals.
She recently switched to kaupapa Māori power company Nau Mai Rā and told them she had no credit and wasn't getting power under her name.
Holmes said the company - which had a mission to eliminate energy hardship in New Zealand - deemed that she was genuine and gave her a chance.
"They are the first people who said 'yes' to me after 12 years of people saying 'no'."
She said she now didn't have to stress about turning up her power when it was cold.
"This winter, I have not stressed once about heating for my family."
Whenever she needed extra support, Nau Mai Rā's whānau fund could chip in and pay for her electricity bills for a few weeks.
'The job is far from over'
Ezra Hirawani and Ben Armstrong founded Nau Mai Rā in June 2019 with a mission to help whānau.
Founders Ezra Hirawani and Ben Armstrong want to alleviate energy hardship. (Source: 1News)
The company worked by charging people a normal rate for their power and using some of that money to pay the bills for those less fortunate through the pooled whānau fund.
Hirawani said Holmes' story highlighted the difference the initiative could make, but that there were so many more people like her.
"We all fall into times of need. We all fall into times we might need help," the 2022 Young New Zealander of the Year said.
"It’s really cool to make a difference but it's confronting to know the job is far from over."
Ezra Hirawani is the co-founder of Nau Mai Rā, an initiative working to end power poverty in Aotearoa. (Source: Breakfast)
Armstrong echoed the sentiment.
"It’s not easy. No matter how much we’ve been able to help in small increments with whānau like Jamie, it just never gets easier."
He said the company currently had 4000 customers.
"When you pay your bill, a portion of the profit which would have gone in our pocket, we chose to give it back to whānau in need. It’s actually that simple."
Nau Mai Rā didn't turn away customers with bad credit and did not cut a household's power because of late or missed payments. Despite that, the company had one of the lowest rates of debts owed to them - a consistent 1.5%.
"It goes to show when you give whānau a second chance, those that never had a chance going anywhere else because of credit history, when you give them that chance, they can do amazing things and they have. They've shown that," Armstrong said.
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