Single mother of six hit with $6k power bill after months of no communication

Thousands of Jacana Energy customers have experienced delays with their power bills and then been hit with a large bill. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

Customers of Jacana Energy have reported receiving huge electricity bills from the retailer after going months without receiving any communication.

The issue has left many customers anxious, with some raising additional concerns about the accuracy of smart meters.

Power and Water Corporation says the issues are the result of a technology update in which some smart meters were "not recognised by the new system".

When Gemma Turner finally received a power bill after waiting almost 12 months, her jaw dropped.

As a single mother of six young children, working full-time as a nurse in Darwin, she was, like many, already feeling the strain of daily living costs.

After months of receiving no communication from Jacana, Gemma Turner received a bill for more than $6,000. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

A year earlier Ms Turner had moved into a new house, and as the months raced by, she realised she had not received an electricity bill in a while.

"I got an email probably a couple of weeks later with the bill and about a month to pay it, and it was over $6,000," she said.

Gemma Turner is a nurse and a single mother to six young children. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

Ms Turner is one of thousands of Jacana Energy customers in the Northern Territory caught up in an energy bill bungle that has left people with debts into the thousands and questioning how they will pay them off.

The scale of the situation was revealed last month during NT Budget Estimates, when Jacana, the Territory's main energy retailer, conceded that about 5,000 customers had been affected by billing delays.

The Northern Territory's main energy retailer, Jacana, has revealed about 5,000 customers have been caught up in a smart meter bungle leading to long delays in their billing.

Jacana Energy declined an interview request by the ABC, but in a statement a spokesperson said the issue lay with Power and Water Corporation (PWC) — also owned by the NT government — and its ability to read electricity meters following the implementation of a new smart meter system.

"The introduction of this system affected the flow of meter data and resulted in billing delays for approximately 5,000 Jacana Energy customers," the Jacana Energy spokesperson said.

PWC is responsible for maintaining energy infrastructure, distributing electricity and providing meter reading data to energy retailers in the Territory, but has had issues with its smart meters since their multi-million dol