If an elderly person has a chair lift in their home is it legal for the power company to shut off the electricity?

in my county if you dont pay your electric bill someone comes out and breaks your legs . eagle valley propane plant isnt paying for itsself ya know ..

pennybiter, why is the power going out? Is it because there is an area wide outage? if so, there is nothing the power company can do about that until the lines are fixed. If a homeowner needs electricity, then they need to install an outside generator that kicks in automatically when the power goes out.

Or is the power going out due to nonpayment of the electric bill? If it is because of non-payment, that's a different matter. Those chairlifts are very expensive. So it would be confusing if someone could afford to install a chairlift yet not be able to pay the monthly utilities. Could you expand on that?

Yup they shut it off unless there is a ventilator or oxygen machine. In those cases, they call APS to investigate. You don't want APS showing up.

The power company should have information about that on their website that spells out what written documentation they need in order to prevent a cut off. The one in my area requires a doctor's note or written proof of the medical condition.

If funds are so short, I'd contact Social Services to see what the person may qualify for in the form of benefits. Some have utility discounts for those who qualify.

If they can't afford to pay the electric bill then it is time to downsize into something more senior friendly and affordable. As to whether disconnecting them is legal, I'm not sure but it probably is, it isn't really lifesaving equipment like oxygen or heat when it is minus 20.