Register with the Power Company If Your Home Requires Electricity for Medical Reasons

Register with the Power Company If Your Home Requires Electricity for Medical Reasons

For most people, when the electricity goes out, it’s more of an annoyance than anything else. It just means daily conveniences get interrupted. But for others, the concern is much heavier because of a medical condition they or someone in the family has.

Most power companies have a record of the addresses for people who have to medically rely on power. But this list isn’t something that’s automatically generated. You have to contact your power company to get put on this record.

Then when the power goes out due to rolling blackouts, those who are on this record will often get first priority for having their electricity stay on – or if it’s a crash, then getting their issue resolved.

Whenever there’s a power outage, workers will be directed to the area where you live.
But not just anyone can get on this record. Each electric company has a set of standards they use to determine who gets priority in restoring electricity.

Usually, first on the list are those who need power for critical care. These are people who much rely on machines in order to remain alive. If someone relies on a kidney dialysis machine at home, this is considered critical care according to electric companies.

People who are on oxygen machines or ventilators also qualify to go on the list to restore power first. Those who have a feeding pump and must have electricity to operate it also qualify for quicker power restoration.

CPAP machines are on the list but, there are some power companies that limit electric restoration for those using CPAP machines to infants and children since many of these machines do have a battery backup.

However, there can be a time limit to how long battery power can last, so it would still be worthwhile to get on the list if your electric company allows it. There are other reasons besides critical care that electric companies use to determine who gets power restored first.

Anyone whose health is negatively affected by loss of heat or loss of air conditioning because it can make their medical condition worse can also qualify to go on an electric company’s priority power restore list.

You can’t just reach out to your electric company and tell them that you need to go on the list, because unfortunately, there are some people who would take advantage of this who don’t really need the help.

So most electric companies do require proof of medical need. You would have to get the required forms from your power company and then take them to your health care provider.

These forms can vary, depending on what your company requires, but usually on the form, there will be a part for the doctor to fill out about medically essential electric powered device or adverse health reaction due to heat or cold from loss of power.