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Did Duke Energy exempt customers with medical risks from Christmas Eve blackouts?

Duke Energy officials won’t say whether the company utilized information it already had on file to protect customers with specific medical needs during recent rolling blackouts.

Around half a million people in the Carolinas were without power after Duke Energy implemented rolling outages on Christmas Eve, during one of the region’s coldest holiday weekends in recent years. Before the blackouts began, some equipment Duke Energy relies on to generate power for millions either stopped producing energy or produced less than expected, officials confirmed on Thursday. That, in addition to a spike in energy demand during the severe weather, necessitated the action, officials have said.

Many who lost power for hours took to social media to express their anger with the company’s decision, including some with loved ones who depend on electricity for medical care.

Utility companies are required to keep a list of households whose residents have special medical needs, according to the N.C. Department of Justice.

Duke Energy does allow individuals with medical needs to enroll in the company’s Medically Essential Program. The initiative provides customers with special medical needs “careful handling of accounts where the disconnection of electric service for a past-due bill could adversely affect the well-being of an occupant,” the company’s website states.

According to the website, “Medically Essential may be assigned to a customer’s account if a member of the customer’s household is chronically or seriously ill, handicapped or on a life support system.”

However, the program does not guarantee customers will not have their power disconnected or interrupted because of an outage, according to Duke Energy.

Bill Norton, a Duke Energy spokesperson, did not disclose to The Charlotte Observer whether customers in the Medically Essential Program lost power during the rolling outages. He did say that the company is “gathering details and will share that information” in a meeting with the N.C. Utilities Commission on Jan. 3.

Duke Energy suggests that customers with medical needs make arrangements in advance for outages that last extended periods of time due to storms and other causes, according to their website.

For more information about the Medically Essential Program or other assistance options, customers can call Duke Energy at 800-777-9898 or visit Duke-Energy.com.

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Evan Moore is a service journalism reporter for the Charlotte Observer. He grew up in Denver, North Carolina, where he previously worked as a reporter for the Denver Citizen, and is a UNC Charlotte graduate.

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