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Medically
Essential Service
Do you, or does someone you know, have a medical
condition that requires electrically-powered equipment that must be operated
continually to sustain life or avoid serious medical complications? What would happen
if you could not pay your electric bill?
The electric utilities regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission (Florida
Power & Light Co., Florida Public Utilities Company, Progress Energy
Florida, Inc., Tampa Electric Co., and Gulf Power Company) have all filed
identical tariffs that define how the companies will address the matter
of a customer who needs to use "continuously operating electric-powered
medical equipment necessary to sustain the life of or avoid serious medical
complications requiring immediate hospitalization of the customer or another
permanent resident at the service address” and has not paid his electric
bill.
This
is the text of the tariff:
For purposes of this section, a Medically Essential Service Customer is
a residential customer whose electric service is medically essential, as
affirmed through the certificate of a doctor of medicine licensed to practice
in the State of Florida. Service is “medically essential” if the
customer has continuously operating electric-powered medical equipment
necessary to sustain the life of or avoid serious medical complications
requiring immediate hospitalization of the customer or another permanent
resident at the service address. The physician’s certificate shall
explain briefly and clearly, in non-medical terms, why continuance of electric
service is medically essential, and shall be consistent with the requirements
of the Company’s tariff. A customer who is certified as a Medically
Essential Service Customer must renew such certification periodically through
the procedures outlined above. The Company may require certification
no more frequently than 12 months.
The Company shall provide Medically Essential Service Customers with a
limited extension of time, not to exceed thirty (30) days, beyond the date
service would normally be subject to disconnection for nonpayment of bills
(following the requisite notice pursuant to Rule 25-6.105 (5) of the Florida
Administrative Code). The Company shall provide the Medically Essential
Service Customer with written notice specifying the date of disconnection
based on the limited extension. The Medically Essential Service Customer
shall be responsible for making mutually satisfactory arrangements to ensure
payment within this additional extension of time for service provided by
the Company and for which payment is past due, or to make other arrangements
for meeting medically essential needs.
No later than 12 noon one day prior to the scheduled disconnection of service
of a Medically Essential Service Customer, the Company shall attempt to
contact such customer by telephone in order to provide notice of the scheduled
disconnect date. If the Medically Essential Service Customer does
not have a telephone number listed on the account, or if the utility cannot
reach such customer or other adult resident of the premises by telephone
by the specified time, a field representative will be sent to the residence
to attempt to contact the Medically Essential Service Customer, no later
than 4 p.m. of the day prior to scheduled disconnection. If contact
is not made, however, the company may leave written notification at the
residence advising the Medically Essential Service Customer of the scheduled
disconnect date; thereafter, the Company may disconnect service on the
specified date. The Company will grant special consideration to a
Medically Essential Service Customer in the application of Rule 25-6.097(3)
of the Florida Administrative Code.
In the event that a customer is certified as a Medically Essential
Service Customer, the customer shall remain solely responsible for any backup
equipment and/or power supply and a planned course of action in the event of
power outages. The Company does not assume, and expressly disclaims,
any obligation or duty: to monitor the health or condition of the person
requiring medically essential service; to insure continuous service; to call, contact,
or otherwise advise of service interruptions; or, accept as expressly provided
by this section, to take any other action (or refrain from any action)
that differs from the normal operations of the Company.
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The major
points to remember are:
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The need for medically
essential service must be certified by a doctor of medicine certified to
practice in Florida.
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The company is required
to grant an extension of not more than 30 days beyond the date service
would normally be disconnected for nonpayment.
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The company must
give written notice of the date that the service is liable for disconnection
based upon the 30-day extension.
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The customer is then
responsible for making the payment or making other arangement to meet his
medical needs.
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No later than noon
on the day prior to the disconnection date, the company must attempt to
contact the customer by telephone to advise them of the impending disconnection.
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If the company
cannot reach an adult member of the household by telephone, it must send a
representative to the residence no later than 4 PM on the day before the
scheduled disconnection to advise the customer of the impending disconnection.
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If no one is home,
the representative may leave written notification of the disconnection.
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This plan cannot
ensure that the customer will have electric service 100% of the time.
Natural disasters, equipment failures, or other unforeseen events may cause
a service interruption.
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The customer is responsible
for any backup equipment and/or power supply in case of an outage.
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