Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Maine program

A medical hold on a power shutoff

A medical certificate can temporarily postpone a Central Maine Power disconnection.

What it is

A medical certificate can temporarily postpone a Central Maine Power disconnection.

Loss of electricity can create a medical risk during treatment. Central Maine Power accepts a medical certificate from an eligible licensed professional. It buys time but does not pay the outstanding balance.

Eligibility rules
  • The Central Maine Power form requires certification by a professional licensed under the listed statutory chapters.
  • The rule depends on the utility and service. Electricity and utility gas have one set of PUC rules; water has another, and delivered heating fuel is not automatically covered by an electric-service certificate. The utility must confirm the permitted certifier and the medical risk the certificate needs to describe. Your social worker can help the care team obtain the right form and confirm the hold.
What you get
  • Central Maine Power can postpone a qualifying disconnection for up to 30 days per certificate.
  • Additional winter procedures for covered electric-service disconnections, not a blanket no-shutoff promise.
What the help includes
  • Life-support equipment can also be registered with the utility. Registration and financial assistance are separate matters.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your utility for its medical emergency form and have the oncology team review it.
  2. Have the account details and any shutoff notice ready. An eligible clinician signs the certificate.

Your utility’s customer service and your oncology team · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The utility confirms receipt, the start and end of any hold, and whether reconnection is available. Central Maine Power’s form specifies written certification within three business days; your utility must confirm the trigger and deadline for your notice.
Good to know

Central Maine Power limits certificates to three in 12 months. Your utility confirms its own conditions, and the bill remains due.

Other details
  • The hold does not cancel the bill. Between November 15 and April 15 the utility needs extra steps before an electric shutoff, but it can still happen. Ask the utility in writing when the hold ends and whether a new certificate is allowed.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“If a power shutoff would put my child’s health at risk, could a medical certificate help? What limits apply, and could you help with it if appropriate?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the protection available if electricity becomes medically essential.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask for the form the day the notice arrives and get it signed.

Your social worker

The clinic signs the certificate.

The care team

A licensed professional signs the medical certificate.

Who decides
Your utility.
Ask the care team
“We have a shutoff notice and my child needs power for medical equipment. Can you sign the utility's medical emergency certificate today?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the utility for its medical certificate form the day a notice arrives.

  1. Ask the utility for its medical certificate form the day a shutoff notice arrives.
  2. Ask the clinic to sign it.
  3. Register any life-support equipment with the utility.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the oncology team to sign the utility's medical emergency certificate and send it in.

What to gather

  • The shutoff notice
  • The equipment your child uses at home

How long: The certified period or 30 days, whichever is shorter.

What a yes looks like

The disconnection date moved, and a payment arrangement discussed.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If the utility refuses, call the Public Utilities Commission consumer assistance line.

Watch out

  • Three certificates in 12 months, not three renewals of one.
  • It postpones the disconnection; it does not cancel the bill.
  • What we could read is Central Maine Power's rule. Ask your own utility what it applies.

Dates that change this

2026-09-11: The statewide medical-certificate rule could not be read: the Chapter 815 download failed. What is described here comes from Central Maine Power's own form, so ask your own utility what it applies.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Central Maine Power’s form allows up to 30 days per qualifying certificate and at most three in 12 months; other utilities confirm their own rules.

  • $30 — Maximum postponement per certificate
  • $3/year — Certificates allowed in a 12-month period

Covers: Registration of life-support equipment

Legal protection: Electric-service winter disconnections from November 15 to April 15 have additional PUC procedures, not a blanket prohibition. · A postponement of disconnection while the certificate runs

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Medical
certified by a professional licensed under the chapters the form names
Residency
Maine; what we could read applies to Central Maine Power
Note
Electric and utility gas use Chapter 815; water uses Chapter 660. The relevant utility confirms scope, certifier, hold, renewal, reconnection and payment conditions.

Expect friction on: The certificate has to be signed by a licensed professional

The trap: It is three certificates in a 12-month period, not three renewals of one. Ask the utility to register life-support equipment as well: Central Maine Power runs a register called Lifelight for that.

Where I read this

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