Early in May, Neil Jenkins lost power to his Lincoln St home after a fuse blew on the power pole outside.
On May 19, he received a $275.23 bill for temporary repair work, allocating $81.25 for travel, $93 for maintenance time and $65.08 for materials and expenses, including a fuse link, line tap and shackle plates.
Mr Jenkins questioned his responsibilities for maintenance, but was then told more permanent work was needed at a cost to him of $580.
An Otago Daily Times report on his plight prompted emails, some quite vitriolic, from people who criticised the bill and maintained the fuse belonged to Network Waitaki, which should pay.
While in a position to pay, Mr Jenkins described the charges as ''ruthless''. He said he wanted a clear explanation for the fault and an explanation of the ownership of lines from the pole on the street outside his property.
''[I'm] not trying to get out of paying the bill,'' he said.
''People need to know what they're liable for.''
However, the fuse fault was caused by a faulty line that Mr Jenkins is responsible for, the company has since confirmed.
After Mr Jenkins spoke to the Otago Daily Times last week, Network Waitaki chief executive Graham Clark, clarifying earlier comments from the company, confirmed the failure of power supply was caused by deterioration of the service line, owned by Mr Jenkins, from the fuse to his house.
''That is the reason that the customer was charged for the fuse,'' he said.
This decision is now being reviewed.
The permanent repair will come at a cost to Mr Jenkins, because it requires replacing the service line in its entirety, from the pole to his house.
''If this repair is not done then it will fail again due to its age and condition,'' Mr Clark said. The ownership of the service line was at the point of connection (POC) - where the service line connected to Network Waitaki's network, he said.
The POC was not necessarily the same as the point of supply, which was generally where the service line crossed the property boundary, Mr Clark said.
''In Mr Jenkins' case the POC is at the consumer side of the service fuse, which we own, on the pole, which we also own,'' he said.
''If Mr Jenkins has concerns about the detail of our account, we are prepared to discuss this with him.''
