A Word About Life Support Systems

December 1, 2017

Notice to WREC Members

The company (Wells Rural Electric Co.) will exercise reasonable diligence to furnish a continuous and sufficient supply of electricity to its member/owners and to avoid any shortages or interruption of delivery thereof. It cannot, however, guarantee complete freedom from interruption. The actual rules follow:

  1. The company will not be liable for interruption or shortage of supply, nor for any loss or damage occasioned thereby.
  2. Temporary Suspension for Repairs The company has the right to suspend service temporarily for the purpose of making necessary repairs or improvements to its system. When this becomes necessary, it will give to the member/owners who may be affected as reasonable notice thereof as circumstances will permit, and will prosecute the work with reasonable diligence.
  3. Apportionment of Supply During Time Shortage During times of shortage of supply, the company will apportion its available supply of electricity among its member/owners in accordance with the company’s interruptible Rule No. 11.
  4. The company has no way to ensure that life support systems will not be subject to an interruption, or, that conditions will not occur which will result in discontinuance of electric service. As a result, if a customer or occupant of the customer’s household is dependent on a life support system, the customer or occupant is solely responsible for his/her own back-up support.

All new customers and existing customers shall be given a written notice as follows:

  1. The company assumes no responsibility for ensuring that power will be provided to a customer at all times for a life support system;
  2. Rules in effect if temperature is above 105 or below 15: Disconnection of service may be delayed for 30 days, with one renewal, if customer is facing medical emergency. Customer must pay bill in installments within the next 90 days.
  3. The term “customer” herein includes the customer or occupant of customer’s household on a life support system.
  4. If a customer is on a life support system, the customer is solely responsible for his/her own backup support for power interruption or discontinuance for any reason.
  5. Any customer may notify the company in writing of life support dependency in which event the company will place a visible notice in the customer’s main account record that there is life support dependency. If someone other than the customer, e.g. customer’s caretaker is identified as the responsible party for the account, such person must be specifically identified in the notice to the company.
  6. The following conditions will, thereafter, apply to a customer with a life support dependency notice on their account:
    1. No company employee will disconnect a meter designated to be serving an account bearing a life support dependency notice without confirming with office personnel that there has been notification of the company’s intent to disconnect for nonpayment as provided by this rule.
    2. Power will not be discontinued for nonpayment until prior written notices of delinquency have occurred in accordance with company rule (6) and, further, until a company representative has made reasonable efforts to notify such customer, such person’s known caretaker, or other person as identified in the written notification pursuant to sub-paragraph 4 above, at least 7 days before by phone or in person before a disconnect occurs. If no personal contact has been made, no disconnection shall occur unless a notice of such disconnection has been physically placed on the door of the customer at least three days before disconnection. Records of such direct contact, or attempts at such contact, shall be maintained by the company. If no personal contact has been made, no disconnection shall occur unless a notice of such disconnection has been physically placed on the door of the customer at least three days before disconnection. Records of such direct contact, or attempts at such contact, shall be maintained by the company. If, after any such notice, a customer/person on life support delivers to the company a medical certificate signed by a licensed physician of the state where the service is being provided that the discontinuance of power would be especially dangerous to the person on a life support system within the customer’s household, service will not be disconnected for another 30 days.
    3. Prior to any other planned interruption, company shall make reasonable efforts to contact and provide advance notice to such customers either by phone or in person. The effort shall be deemed reasonable if two phone attempts or one personal contact attempt has been made. Records of such contact, or attempts at such contact, shall be maintained by the company.
  7. In the event a customer with life support dependency does not notify the company of the life support status, customer may not expect service different from that provided to customers without life support systems.
  8. All obligations described herein referring to “customer” are equally applicable to any person in customer’s household on a life support system.