I spoke to a man this month whose home electricity was shut off.  He was in the hospital, post-amputation, and was ready to go home... to a home with no electricity.  The hospital social worker is very pro-active and contacted me to 'brainstorm' on this issue. 

I discovered that Tampa Electric (TECO) offers several services for those who are faced with chronic/serious health issues.

SHARE

SHARE helps senior customers who are low-income and/or medically disabled pay their energy-related bills.  To determine if you qualify to receive assistance as a SHARE recipient, call (813) 226-0055.

Hospicare

This program can help eliminate your worries about paying your electric bill during your hospital stay. Hospicare delays your electric bill payments until you leave the hospital. When you leave the hospital after an extended period, TECO will arrange a payment schedule with you.

Special Needs Registry

TECO encourages their special-needs customers to pre-register with their county’s response team that provides aid to persons who require special assistance during evacuations and sheltering because of physical, mental or sensory disabilities.

For more information, call the special-needs registry in your area:
(813) 272-5900 (Hillsborough County)
(863) 534-5600 (Polk County)
(727) 847-8959 (Pasco County)
(727) 464-3800 (Pinellas County)

Utlimately, the man who contacted me did not qualify for the SHARE program.  He initially spoke with a representative at the phone company who did not seem interested in working something out with him.  It was basically... pay it all, or nothing.  That included many penalty fees.  Unfortunately, in customer service, sometimes it's necessary to bypass the general call center employees and go straight to the top.  He did just that.  After requesting a supervisor, the man explained his situation very clearly... assertively and calmly.  Utimately, he was able to negotiate and get the electricity reconnected prior to his discharge.  Thank goodness.