Fault cuts power to ill baby's breathing machine

Power has been restored to a Christchurch family with an ill baby following a fault with the Meridian Power Manager system today.

The national system went off-line early this morning and was not fixed until 12.30pm.

Gavin Johnson, 50, of Northcote, told The Press his Meridian PowerManager system in his home stopped working this morning.

The fault meant that ventilation equipment that helped their baby daughter Ashley, 14 months, to breathe was not working.

Johnson said Meridian had told him it was experiencing problems with the PowerManager system - which uses a top-up card to pay for electricity.

Ashley was born prematurely and needed help to breathe as her lungs had not developed fully, said Johnson.

The family borrowed a generator from a neighbour to keep electricity flowing to the machine until the fault with fixed.

In 2007 Mercury Energy faced a public relations nightmare after it disconnected the power to the home of Folole Muliaga, who used an oxygen machine.

Muliaga died after the contractor cut power to her home in Mangere, Auckland, because of an overdue bill.

Power managers are "pay as you go'' electricity meters that require top-ups using pre-paid cards. They are often installed in low-income or rental properties.

- © Fairfax NZ News