Blame may ultimately fall on him. But it wouldn't have hurt had the people that they had to send to shut down the power, or place the restrictor or whatever, knocked on the door to let him know that they were shutting down the power because he failed to pay.
The numerous letters, notes, and power regulator weren't enough? How to be know they didn't knock?
Not to mention the "My lights just went out the TV wont turn on it's getting a bit nippy in here and I haven't paid my power bill in months" factor didn't come into play? Even once the power was cut off he knew something was wrong when the lights went out and it started getting cold.
I'm not bashing the guy by any means. I truly feel sorry for him, but it came as the result of his negligence. Especially if he had the money together, as the article points to, why did he not pay it or make the arrangement? "I have a my pension check coming in two weeks and will have all my payment then." One simple phone call, I'm sure they get the exact same one dozens of times per day by people behind on their bill and catching up. Saving money and not making a payment arrangement doesn't help matters at all.
Sad story, but in the end it was his negligence.