If you or someone in your household relies on electricity to operate medical equipment, such as an oxygen concentrator, kidney dialysis machine or ventilator, it’s important that both Essential Energy and your electricity retailer know.
Registering Life Support Equipment
To register your premises as having Life Support equipment you will need to contact either Essential Energy or your retailer.
You’ll need to provide a Medical Confirmation Form completed by a registered medical practitioner, outlining the type of equipment required. Essential Energy and your retailer will share your registration details.
To apply for the NSW Life Support Rebate, please contact your retailer.
The following types of equipment have been classified as Life Support equipment:
- Oxygen concentrators
- Intermittent peritoneal dialysis machines
- Kidney dialysis machines
- Continuous positive airways pressure respirators
- Crigler-Najjar syndrome phototherapy equipment
- Ventilators for life support
- In relation to particular customers - any other equipment that a registered medical practitioner certifies is required for a person residing at the customer’s premises for life support.
What we do when you register
- Register the premises as having life support equipment.
- Do everything we can to provide a safe and reliable electricity supply. Please note, registering as a Life Support customer does not guarantee continuous 24 hour power supply to the premises. We may need to interrupt supply for maintenance or upgrade works to ensure the safety and reliability of our network, or your supply may be affected by an unplanned interruption. We recommend you discuss a life support power outage plan with your doctor or medical service provider to help you deal with an interruption to your power supply.
- Unless we have obtained your explicit consent for a planned interruption occurring on a specified date, notify you in writing at least four business days prior to any planned interruption, giving you details of the date, time and duration the interruption is scheduled for.
If you contact Essential Energy to register as requiring Life Support we will also send you information on your Life Support registration including:
- The requirement to provide medical confirmation, what happens if medical confirmation is not provided, and the medical confirmation form
- Planned interruptions and the requirements on either your retailer or us to notify you of them
- Information to assist you prepare for unplanned interruptions
- An emergency contact number for Essential Energy.
If you register through your retailer, they will send you this information.
Keep your details up to date
Please let us and your retailer know immediately if your contact details or circumstances change.
If you have further questions about your Life Support registration, please call Essential Energy on 132391.
To apply for the NSW Life Support Rebate, please contact your retailer.
For more Life Support information read our Frequently Asked Questions.
Power Outage Planning for Life Support Customers
Check. Plan. Do.
Power outages can happen for many reasons, storms, accidents, equipment failure or planned maintenance, sometimes for more than a few hours. There’s no guarantee when power could be restored.
That’s why it’s important to always have a Power Outage Plan. Even if you’re registered as a Life Support customer, planning ahead helps keep you safe until power is restored.
The Energy Charter has developed a power outage checklist and planning resources to help you stay prepared for a power outage.
Head to the Check. Plan. Do. Power Outage Plan website to create your plan. Resources are available in multiple languages.
