Electric Power Discount

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LinkC
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Electric Power Discount

Post by LinkC » Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:48 pm

Just got a response from my power company that they approved my application for their medical equipment program.

I will get a discount based on the equipment and number of hours used per day. I will get priority service should the power fail. And, if my account should go into arrears, I will get an additional two-week grace period before shut-off. (I suppose killing someone by cutting off the power for non-payment wouldn't be very good PR...)

I will let you know what the discount amounts to when I get a bill.

All it took was a simple form filled out by me and my doc. (Actually a Nurse Practitioner who renewed my 'script.) I emailed the Power company and asked if they had such a program. They mailed me the form right away. I think the program is aimed more toward dialysis, respirator and more "life-critical" equipment, but I clearly said "CPAP for 9 hrs daily" and they approved it.

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drj130
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by drj130 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:51 pm

Congrats LinkC.

I've heard of these programs/discounts before in the past. Would be interesting to see how fast they did restore power if there was a failure. Not that I want your power to go out or anything like that.

David

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MOTOR815
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by MOTOR815 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:05 pm

I sent a question into my local power company and there were very curt about they did not offer a discount for what they considered non life sustaining medical equipment. They also refused to put me on any kind of emergency power outage notification. And this was from a supervisor.

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Goofproof
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by Goofproof » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:36 pm

Be sure and thank your neibhors in FL for kicking in to pay part of your electric bill. I would not be opposed to it, except the credit will be much more than the amount of electric you use to run a XPAP, due to them not understanding what the XPAP uses. The credit should be used for equiptment that actually raises the cost of your electric bill, Heating a cup of soup a day in a microwave, takes more electric that running a XPAP all night, I pay to heat my tea too. Jim
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LinkC
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by LinkC » Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:05 pm

@ David: Thanks. Been here 15 yrs and it's only been off ONCE (for more than an hour). It was off a couple of days after Hurricane Frances, but we had skedaddled to Atlanta for that. And it was BC (before CPAP).

@ Jim: Thanks for you concern for my neighbors. And for insulting the fine folks at Florida Power by assuming they don't know what they are doing.

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drj130
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by drj130 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:07 pm

LinkC wrote:@ David: Thanks. Been here 15 yrs and it's only been off ONCE (for more than an hour). It was off a couple of days after Hurricane Frances, but we had skedaddled to Atlanta for that. And it was BC (before CPAP).

@ Jim: Thanks for you concern for my neighbors. And for insulting the fine folks at Florida Power by assuming they don't know what they are doing.
LinkC,

Sometimes I'm not sure if they do know what they are doing... Of course it's been a while from when I last lived there. And that was in Clearwater. Things change and maybe they have gotten better.

David

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Wombara
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by Wombara » Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:11 pm

This sounds kinda interesting... anyone know of any UK suppliers that run any kind of similar arrangement?
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DoriC
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by DoriC » Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:46 pm

We did apply to be put on an emergency list. A few months ago we had a blackout in our town and we noticed that our power was restored about 2 hrs before our neighbors were. So I guess that form we filled out did work.

Edit: I should add that someone I know in our community is on home dialysis and his power was restored after 2hrs,ours was restored after 4hrs. The entire blackout lasted about 6hrs from 5PM to 11PM. I believe it was during that first snowstorm we got right after Xmas. I'm not aware of any discounts but I am glad about the priority list. Yes, I think this was discussed on another thread.

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Last edited by DoriC on Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hose_Head
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by Hose_Head » Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:17 pm

MOTOR815 wrote:I sent a question into my local power company and there were very curt about they did not offer a discount for what they considered non life sustaining medical equipment. They also refused to put me on any kind of emergency power outage notification. And this was from a supervisor.
Make sure that you keep a copy of that response as exhibit 1 of any future lawsuit that you (or your family) may wish to bring. You may not use it, but you never know.
I'm workin' on it.

Hose_Head
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by Hose_Head » Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:23 pm

This raises the question about whether you assume any obligations under this agreement. Since they offer to restore your power on a priority basis, is there any requirement that you notify them when you are out of town? It would make sense that they direct their emergency priorities where they are needed most, and certainly you don't need it if you're not there.

Just askin' .......
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LinkC
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by LinkC » Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:04 pm

Nothin' like that in the acceptance letter *I* got.

(I got the idea to ask from a topic on here a few months ago. Might be more info there...)

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Uncle_Bob
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by Uncle_Bob » Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:48 pm

LinkC wrote: I will get priority service should the power fail
LOL sure you will. Do you know it's possible you will be the lowest priority ?

Let the others pay for your discount in any case. Because a CPAP sure does suck up some juice

UB
Last edited by Uncle_Bob on Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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LinkC
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by LinkC » Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:16 pm

Who are these mysterious "others"?

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Kahfree
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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by Kahfree » Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:51 pm

Interesting. After reading this I logged onto my local Gas and Electric Company and found this list of eligible medical equipment for the low cost electricity program and priority program. I assume they feel its important enough to use an APNEA machine to have it on the list. I printed out the form and will bring it to my doctors office on Monday at my visit. Although I do not believe I will die in my sleep while not using the machine for a power outage, I do believe that the cost of purchasing and maintaining the equipment is necessary and therefore I should apply for the discount, as long as they are offering it, why not?

http://www.sdge.com/documents/customer/medbaseline.pdf

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Re: Electric Power Discount

Post by sleepycarol » Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:06 pm

Kahfree wrote:Interesting. After reading this I logged onto my local Gas and Electric Company and found this list of eligible medical equipment for the low cost electricity program and priority program. I assume they feel its important enough to use an APNEA machine to have it on the list. I printed out the form and will bring it to my doctors office on Monday at my visit. Although I do not believe I will die in my sleep while not using the machine for a power outage, I do believe that the cost of purchasing and maintaining the equipment is necessary and therefore I should apply for the discount, as long as they are offering it, why not?

http://www.sdge.com/documents/customer/medbaseline.pdf
I am wondering if the apnea monitors were meant to be the ones used for those that used for infants. I know two of my brothers kids had to use them and one of my grandkids. The kids would actually stop breathing and the machines alerted the parents and had alarms to wake the parents up. My brother lost two babies to SIDS. I know there are a lot of theories about SIDS -- but from our families experience the machines were able to prevent the possible deaths of the ones that were given the machines for their protection. In my opinion -- those machines DO save lives and are not in the same category as our cpap machines. I know many will probably argue this point -- but babies are wired differently than adults and I feel that this kids suffer from central sleep apnea where their brains do not always signal for them to breathe.
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I am not a doctor or other health care professional. Comments reflect my own personal experiences and opinions.