Along with the change from Lifeline to Baseline in 1982, the legislature established a new category of Baseline for customers that required electricity-powered life-support equipment. Called Medical Baseline, the additional allowance of kilwatt-hours (kWh) to be charged at the Baseline rate was determined by specific disabilities, and later expanded to include specific diseases.
The link below provides more information about SCE’s Medical Baseline Allocation Program:
You may download an electronic copy of the Medical Baseline Application in Adobe Acrobat format or request to have a paper copy mailed to you.
Upon application and accepted certification of a medical doctor or osteopath licensed to practice medicine in California, eligible residential customers are provided a standard year-round medical baseline allocation of 16.5 kWh per day in addition to the applicable baseline allocation for the season and their baseline region. However, under a "hardship clause," a higher medical baseline allocation may be provided.
Eligibility:
- Regular use in the customer's home of one or more medical life-support devices essential to maintain the life of a full-time resident of the household; and/or
- A full-time resident of the household is: a paraplegic, hemiplegic, quadriplegic, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma patient, being treated for life-threatening illness, and/or has a compromised immune system.
Life-support devices are those devices or equipment that utilize mechanical or artificial means to sustain, restore, or supplant a vital function, or mechanical equipment relied upon for mobility both within and outside of buildings.
Life-support devices include
- Aerosol Tent
- Pressure Pad
- Apnea Monitor
- Pressure Pump
- Compressor / Concentrator
- Respirator (all types)
- Electronic Nerve Stimulator
- Suction Machine
- Oxygen Generator
- Ultrasonic Nebulizer
- Electrostatic Nebulizer
- Inhalation Pulmonary Pressure
- Breather Machine (IPPB)
- Iron Lung
- Dialysis Machine
- Hemodialysis Machine
- Motorized Wheelchair
About 27,000 SCE customers are receiving medical baseline allocation. Of this number, about 2,200 have indicated they have a tolerance of two hours or less to survive without electricity, and are considered "critical care." Utilities cannot guarantee an uninterrupted supply of energy, and encourage customers to have backup power and/or a plan to ensure health and welfare during outages. Back-up power is not a requirement in order to receive medical baseline allocation, and SCE does not know how many customers have a back-up power supply available.
Stage 3 Emergencies - Rotating Outages
In January 2001, SCE sent a direct-mail letter to all 27,000 medical baseline customers regarding the energy crisis and potential for electricity outages. The letter reminded customers of the need to be prepared, and asked that they call us if there has been any change to their medical or critical-care status.
In the event that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declares a Stage 3 Emergency and requires firm power reduction, SCE will automatically contact medical baseline customers by telephone with a pre-recorded message. Critical care customers will be contacted first, followed by non-critical care medical baseline customers. The phone message warns of the high potential for a rotating outage, and recommends that the necessary precautionary measures be taken to ensure health and welfare should an outage occur. Because SCE may receive as few as 10 minutes notice from the CAISO of a firm power reduction requirement, we will be unable to ensure that medical baseline customers will hear the message before they may be affected by a rotating outage.