Even short-term power outages adversely affect public health

•Forpatientsdependentonelectricityforin-homemedicalequipment,anoutagecanquicklybecomeanemergencysituation.Theelderly,thesick,andthepoorareespeciallyvulnerable.

•Thereareatleast2.5millionpeoplereliantonin-home,electricity-dependentmedicalequipment,suchasoxygencon-centrators;manyareover65,andtheseniorpopulationisexpectedtodoubleby2060.

•Millionsmorerelyonelectricitytopowertheirdaily“homecare”services,suchasrefrigerationformedications,heatingandcooling,andmobilitydevices.

•Itisestimatedthat73,600to184,000childrenintheUnitedStatesrelyonelectricity-dependentmedicaltechnology.

The loss of power can be life-threatening for the medically vulnerable

•Healthcarecomplications,includingoutage-relatedissueslikemedicaldevicefailure,accountedfornearlyone-thirdoftheestimated4,645additionaldeathsinthethreemonthsfollowingHurricaneMariain2017.

•MortalitydatapublishedafterHurricaneIrmabatteredtheGulfCoastin2017showedmorethan15%ofdeathswereattributedtopoweroutagesthatworsenedexistingmedicalconditions.

•In2008,ofthe1,400peoplethatcheckedintoemergencymedicalsheltersduringHurricaneGustav,20%–40%reliedonelectricalmedicalequipment.

•Formanydependentonelectricityformedicalequipment,thelocalhospitalormedicalclinicbecomestheplaceofrefugeduringagridoutageordisaster,compoundingapublichealthemergencyatcriticalfacilities.

Clean Energy GroupandMeridian Institute,twonationalnonprofitorganizationsworkingattheintersectionofclimate,health,andcleanenergy,aredevelopingandadvancingresilientpowerstrategiestopreventorminimizedeathsandpublichealthcrisescausedbypoweroutages,byplacingbatterystoragepowersystemsinmedicallyvulnerablehouseholdsandcriticalhealthfacilities.Asmorepeopleareencouragedtoreceivehealthcareathomeratherthantoseekcareinhospitalsandnursinghomes,thehealthcarecommunitymustensureanequallyhighstandardofemergencycareandsupportinhomehealthsettingsasexistsinmedicalfacilities.

Growing impacts from outages due to severe weather are an increasing threat

•Electricpoweroutagesalmostdoubledindurationfrom2016to2017.

•FivemonthsafterHurricaneMariadestroyedPuertoRico’senergysystems,400,000peopleremainedwithoutpower.

•InCalifornia,therewere85deathsduetothe2018CampFireandthousandswereforcedtoseekemergencyshelters.Someutilitiesarenowconsideringshuttingdownpowerlinestomillionstoreducetheriskofaccidentallysparkingawild-fire.Theseplannedoutagescouldcompromisethesafetyofelectricity-dependentcustomers.

•In2018,HurricaneMichaelandHurricaneFlorenceeachleftupwardofamillionpeopleinthedarkacrosstheSoutheastUnitedStates.

HoME HEalTH CarE In THE Dark What Happens When the Power Goes Out?

www.cleanegroup.org|www.merid.orgJune2019

See solutions, page 2

Battery storage systems can reliably and cost-effectively prevent disruptions in home health services by storing electricity for use when grid power is unavailable.

•Batterystoragerepresentsaclean,reliablealternativetonoisyandpollutingdieselgenerators.

•Whenthegridisfunctioning,batterystoragesystemscanshiftandoptimizeenergydemandtoreduceelectricitybills.

•Batterystoragecangeneraterevenuebyparticipatinginutilityandgridservicesprograms.

•Whenthereisanoutage,abatterysystemcanautomaticallydisconnectfromthegridtopowerhomedevicesuntilgridservicesarerestored.

•Batterystorageisbecomingmoreafford-ableascostscontinuetodecline.

•Severalstatesandsomeutilitiesareofferingincentivestoconsumerstoinstallhomebatterystoragesystems.

•BatterystoragepairedwithsolarPV,theidealresilientpowersolution,canprovidelonger-durationback-uppowerthanbatteriesalone.

Support research.Theimpactthatoutageshaveonmedicallyvulnerablehouseholdsremainsnarrowlyexplored,andevenfewerresourcesareavailableontheroleofbatterystorageinmitigatingthoseimpacts.Energysecurityinhomehealthcareshouldbefundedasapriorityresearchfieldwithinpublichealth,includ-ingissuesregardinglow-incomeaccesstotechnologyinnovationandthepublichealthbenefitsofinstallingresilientpowersystemsinhomehealthcaresettings.

Develop better data. Thelackofacomprehensive,publiclyavailabledatasetmakesitdifficulttodeterminetheexactsizeanddemographiccharacteristicsofthein-home,electricity-dependentpopu-lation.Todeterminethesizeandscope

Home Health Care in the Darkexaminestherisksassociatedwithpoweroutagesforindividualsreliantonelectricityforin-homemedicalandmobilityequipment.Currentenergysecuritytechnologiesandpoliceswillneedtoadjusttomeettheneedsofthehomehealthcarecommunity.

Policybarriersshouldbereplacedwithincentivesandprogramsthatmakebatterystorageadoptioneasier.Thesechallengesarenotunsurmount-able,especiallyiftheagenciesrespon-sibleforthewellbeingofmedicallyvulnerableresidents,likeMedicare,Medicaidandtheutilities,joinintodevelopanddeployresilientpowersolutions.

Thereportlistsasetofrecommendationstosuggestconcreteopportunitiestoimproveaccesstoresilientpowertechnologies.Thefullreportandaccompany-ingreferencescanbedownloadedatwww.cleanegroup.org/ceg-resources/resource/battery-storage-home-healthcare.

Peoplewhoareathomewithelectricity-dependentmedicalequipmentshouldnothavetoworryabouthowtosurvivethenextpoweroutage.Thetechnologytoimproveresiliencyandenergyindependenceexists,anditmustbemademoreaccessibletothosewhocouldbenefitmostfromit.LearnmoreabouttheworkofCleanEnergyGroupandMeridianInstituteonresilientpowersolutionsatwww.resilient-power.org.

“Home Health Care in the Dark” A rePOrt frOm CleAn enerGy GrOuP And meridiAn institute

Recommendations for Advancing Battery Storage for Medically Vulnerable Individuals

oftheelectricity-dependentpopulation,utilitiesandagenciessuchasMedicareandMedicaidshouldpoolresources,coordinatedata,andfundresearcherstodevelopmorereliableinformationintoasingle,unifiedsource.

Utility administered residential battery storage programs. Utilitiesshouldprovidebatterystoragetohomestoprotectagainstoutagesaspartofnewutilitystorageservices.Statesshouldconsiderrequiringutilitiestoprovidebatterystorageasanessentialcustomerserviceforhomehealthcarecustomers.Expandingutilityenergyefficiencyprogramstoincludebatterystoragealsowouldestablishasteadystreamoffundingforlow-incomebatterystorageprograms.

Technology innovation and market development.Thereisnotargetedmarkettodayforthird-partyproviderstoofferbatterystoragetechnologiestohomehealthcarehouseholds.Thereisanurgentneedforacomprehensivemarketdevelopmenteffortthatwillfocusontechnologyinnovationtodevelopsuitableproductsandbringdowncosts.

Expand Medicare coverage to include battery storage.IfbatterystoragewasincludedinthelistofMedi-careeligibledurablemedicalequipment(DME),doctorswouldbeabletoprescribebatterystorage.Medicaldeviceproviderswouldthensupplyresilientpowersystemstohomehealthcareresidents.

www.cleanegroup.org|www.merid.orgJune2019