All Californians need to be prepared for potential outages, especially those who rely on electricity for medical devices and equipment and live in a high fire risk area.
Southern California Edison’s Medical Baseline customers can now have greater peace of mind with a clean, portable backup battery, with renewable charging from an accompanying solar panel, through the utility’s Critical Care Backup Battery Program.
“SCE wants to help empower our customers and communities to be as prepared as possible for potential outages caused by unexpected weather and other emergencies,” said Jessica Lim, SCE principal manager of Customer Programs and Services. “Programs and services, such as Critical Care Backup Battery, can help provide additional resiliency and support during these critical times.”
Customers who may be eligible for the Critical Care Backup Battery Program must:
- Live in a high fire risk area;
- Be enrolled in the Medical Baseline program; and
- Be enrolled in an income-qualified program, such as California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) or Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA).
Eligible customers will receive a letter informing them about the program and providing details on how to work with an SCE-approved contractor to determine the appropriate battery size for their medical devices. Once confirmed, the contractor will then deliver and set up the backup battery and solar panel for customers free of charge.
“We understand the burden the pandemic, which has been compounded by extreme weather events, can have on our customers and we have made it simpler for them to qualify for important programs like Medical Baseline until June 30,” said Lim.
Customers who may be eligible for the Medical Baseline program:
- Rely on medical devices and equipment vital for life or to restore crucial physical function, including mobility.
- Are temperature sensitive and require air conditioning.
- Have a life-threatening illness, compromised immune system or other conditions requiring heating and/or cooling.
Customers who are not enrolled in an income-qualified program and do not meet the qualifications for the Critical Care Backup Battery Program can still check their eligibility for Medical Baseline online at sce.com/medicalbaseline, which is now available in 19 languages, including Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog.
To learn more about rebates and incentives for portable power solutions, including the Critical Care Backup Battery Program, customers should visit sce.com/customerresources. Customers who are not enrolled in an income-qualified program can learn more on how they can apply by visiting sce.com/careandfera.
