From 1 April, the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is introducing a new protocol to regulate the information retailers and distributors share about consumers who are medically dependent on electricity.

Medically dependent consumers rely on electricity to prevent serious harm to their health and may need equipment like ventilators, dialysis machines or other devices for critical medical support.

The Medically Dependent Consumer Information (EIEP4A) protocol will support retailers to meet their Consumer Care Obligations and ensure medically dependent consumers have the right level of consideration and care when it comes to power outages - both planned and unplanned.

The new protocol standardises the way information on medically dependent consumers is shared, protects consumer privacy by excluding unnecessary information from being shared and ensures timely data updates.

Significantly, the EIEP4A protocol closes a gap in current regulation by giving distributors ICP-level information about medically dependent consumers on their network. As well as using this information when planning and doing work, distributors responsible for communicating with consumers during outages will be able to rely on accurate and up-to-date information to do so.

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The Authority continues to accelerate work that will deliver better outcomes for all electricity consumers. Authority General Manager Retail and Consumer Andrew Millar says: "An important focus for us is rapidly delivering on the work that will create the most value for electricity consumers. We are clearly signalling our initiatives and timeframes to industry to ensure all parties can contribute to the process.

"We developed this new protocol in response to feedback distributors shared during consultation on the Consumer Care Obligations about challenges they faced when sharing information under an existing protocol. The decision we’ve published today incorporates changes in response to submitters’ feedback to address concerns about data conflict. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the 22 submissions received on the EIEP4A consultation paper."

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