The Hawaiian Electric Company has established a new program that will give discounts to customers with special medical needs.
The discount program first launched as a pilot program in 2017. It became a permanent program starting April 1.
The Special Medical Needs rate offers a discount of $0.04 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on the first 500 kWh in any month. Customers with the medical discount can save up to $20 each month on their electricity bills.
Eligible medical conditions include:
- Dependent on a life-support device used in the home, which includes but is not limited to: respirators; iron lungs; hemodialysis machines; suction machines; electric nerve stimulators; pressure pads and pumps; aerosol tents; electrostatic and ultrasonic nebulizers; compressors; intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) machines; and motorized wheelchairs; or
- A paraplegic, hemiplegic, or quadriplegic person, or a multiple sclerosis patient with special heating and/or cooling needs; or
- A person being treated for a life-threatening illness, or a person with a compromised immune system with special heating and/or cooling needs to sustain the life of the person or prevent deterioration of the person's medical condition; or
- A scleroderma patient with special heating needs.
A Hawaiʻi-licensed physician must provide a signature to confirm the medical condition. This program is available to no more than 2,000 total residential customers on Oʻahu, Maui County, and Hawaiʻi Island.
