Does your utility provide assistance in electricity rates for using XPAP?

[mhehe]

My utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric provides assistance in giving you an allowance of an additional 500 kwhr in your base-line. I have been a CPAP user since 1996 but got this information only recently. As a result I save at least $100 a month in my electricity bill. I urge you to find out if your utility provides a similar program.
Medical Baseline is a financial assistance program for residential customers that have special energy needs due to certain qualifying medical conditions.
 
Eligible customers may receive a “standard” Medical Baseline quantity of approximately 500 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity and/or 25 therms of gas per month, in addition to regular Baseline quantities.

Approval of your Medical Baseline application still requires you to continue paying your monthly PG&E bill. Nonpayment can result in the disconnection of your utility services.


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Find out whether you're eligible
To qualify, a California-licensed physician must certify that a full-time resident in your home has one of the following medical issues:

• Dependency on life-support equipment at home. For a list of equipment, visit Life-Support Equipment.
  

Life-support equipment includes, but is not limited to:

• Respirators
  
  
• Iron lungs
  
  
• Hemodialysis machines
  
  
• Suction machines
  
  
• Electric nerve stimulator
  
  
• Pressure pads and pumps
  
  
• Aerosol tents
  
  
• Electrostatic and ultrasonic nebulizers
  
  
• Compressors
  
  
• Intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) machines
  
  
• Motorized wheelchairs
  

[Sleeprider]

I did this when I lived in CA. You have tiered rates that go up as you use more power, so more room under Tier I makes a big difference. FWIW, PG&E is a huge ripoff. It really makes a big difference, especially if you run air conditioning or a pool. Our power costs here in PA are a fraction of your rates because we are not paying for low-carbon power, solar subsidies and huge taxes on power use intended to incentivize conservation. Glad you got your subsidy, and even gladder, I don't need it.

Ever wonder why power is so much cheaper where PG E does not supply it in CA? Sacramento, Roseville, Redding, and other municipal electric utilities actually provide power at around 11 cents/kWh compared to your Tier II rate of nearly 40 cents.

[mhehe]

I have lived in the keystone state and our first-born was born in Phoenixville! When we moved here electricity rates were much higher than in California. California's electricity had a large hydro content and there were few thermal power stations. By the time we moved back to Northern California, the rates from PG&E had started to exceed PA's rates. Then came the big ENRON rip-off for which we are still paying. The rates are beyond my control although as a concerned citizen and tax-payer I try to present my point of view. However, medical assistance programs, wherever they may be, do help the recipients. Certainly in my case it helps a lot.

[Sleeprider]

After the Enron scandal, California handed control to the ISO (Independent System Operator). That is a whole new level quasi government control you won't find anywhere else. As long as you are in PG&E service area, your rates will impact your lives. We moved into SMUD served area and that was a lot of relief. I used this program in CA to lower our bills from 2008 to 2012. It was a big help.

It appears in our area, there are no discounts, but medical certification for essential equipment could get the lights turned on faster, or provide for installment payments of utility bills in some cases. https://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/...ml#medical

[JesseLee]

I just dug through Kentucky Utilities' service programs pages. KU doesn't offer any rebates, but they do offer special notifications of planned outages and special updates of unplanned outages.

[paulag1955]

Holy moly, how expensive is your power?

[PaulaO2]

According to their list, XPAP would not qualify. It isn't life support. We'd be uncomfortable until power is restored. But no way do we earn a break on the bill.

[mhehe]

It does apply:
Equipment list says:

Intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) machines

in other words XPAP!

[mhehe]

You are charged according to the amount you use. Tier one is the lowest rate and after that each tier goes up in price. Right now where we live tier 1 is $0.19979 or 20 cents per kwh. Typically a user is allowed 10.9 kwh a day or approx 320 kwh. So 500kwh additional makes a huge difference. I am not a glutton fpr power and our home is well insulated and uses energy saving devices. Almost all our lighting is LED based. Higher tier rates can be 200-400% of tier 1 rates.
They are now bringing in rates based on time of use that changes with seasons. For example, in summer due to heavy air conditioning usage, rate are higher between 10 am to 5 pm. They are the lowest at night for electricity.

[mhehe]

Last month we used 557 kwh!