Medically Dependent Consumers
In November 2009, the Electricity Commission released a guideline to assist medically dependent consumers to articulate the Electricity Commission’s expectations of electricity retailers for medically dependent consumers. The guideline (section 6) defines a medically dependent consumer as “A domestic consumer who is dependent on mains electricity for critical medical support, such that loss of electricity may result in loss of life or serious harm”.
It also states (section 4) that this “does not imply a guaranteed supply of electricity to medically dependent consumers. From time to time temporary electricity outages may occur and medically dependent consumers should ensure backup plans are in place to handle such temporary outages”. The guideline goes further in (section 10) articulating expectations that “medically dependent consumers need to take responsibility for ensuring that they have an emergency response plan in place to respond to any electricity outage”. For more information head to:
Eastland Network, like other suppliers in the electricity industry , cannot guarantee continuous supply. From time to time there will be localised unplanned outages where the continuity of supply is interrupted. This can be caused by any number of things, including equipment failure, trees falling through lines, vehicle accident and storms, among other things. These localised unplanned outages, which can be widespread, cannot be predicted or notified ahead of time, and restoration times will vary with the degree and extent of repair work required. Regional outages may also occur when Trans-Power experience faults within their systems. These are beyond Eastland Network’s control and can occur with little or no warning.
Eastland Network strongly advise that medically dependent consumers develop an emergency management plan with their health provide to get them through.
