Climate-related power outages have increasingly compromised the lives and well-being of medically vulnerable populations. For the millions reliant on electricity for home medical equipment, even short-term power outages can lead to a potentially life-threatening situation. Society’s most vulnerable populations— elders, the ill, and the poor—face the greatest risks. Yet, technologies that provide backup energy in the face of power outages are limited and existing resources are often inaccessible outside of healthcare settings and mostly do not directly reach low-income populations. With the increasing prevalence of climate-related events that induce power outages such as hurricanes, wildfires and windstorms, there is an imminent need to increase access to backup power, for both residences and critical community facilities. This paper sheds light on the increasingly relevant problem of power outages and offers a view toward a socio-technically-based solution to protect vulnerable populations and improve health outcomes in the event of an outage. It provides a comprehensive overview of the impacts of power outages on electricity-dependent populations by highlighting existing research on affected populations, describing the gaps in the field, and featuring two case studies in Puerto Rico and California that provide preliminary evidence for the potential uses of resilient power resources. Resilient power systems-- battery storage ideally paired with solar photovoltaics-- can provide clean, reliable emergency backup power by storing electricity for use when grid power is unavailable. Backup power can mitigate the adverse health impacts of power outages on electricity-dependent populations, many of whom are medically and socioeconomically vulnerable. We describe a future of energy that is resilient and just, by presenting the possibility for access to clean energy technologies that can support healthcare that is home-based and features multiple co-benefits in light of climate change. With additional evidence, policies, incentives, and market designs in place, resilient power technologies can serve all populations in need of reliable and resilient access to electricity in the near future.

与气候有关的停电日益损害了医疗脆弱人群的生活和福祉。对于数百万依赖家用医疗设备用电的人来说，即使短期停电也可能导致威胁生命的情况。社会上最脆弱的人群（老年人，病人和穷人）面临着最大的风险。但是，面对断电提供备用能源的技术是有限的，现有资源通常在医疗机构之外无法访问，并且大多不能直接覆盖低收入人群。随着引起飓风，野火和暴风雨等电力中断的与气候相关的事件的日益普遍，迫切需要增加住宅和重要社区设施的备用电源。本文阐明了日益严重的停电问题，并提出了一种基于社会技术的解决方案，以保护脆弱人群并在发生停电时改善健康状况。它通过重点介绍有关受影响人口的现有研究，描述该领域的差距，并以波多黎各和加利福尼亚的两个案例研究为特色，从而全面概述了停电对依赖电力的人口的影响，并提供了有关波多黎各潜在用途的初步证据。弹性的电力资源。弹性电源系统-理想的是将电池存储与太阳能光伏电池配对-可通过存储电力以提供清洁，可靠的紧急备用电源，以在电网不可用时使用。备用电源可以减轻停电对电力依赖人群的不利健康影响，其中许多人口在医学和社会经济上都脆弱。通过介绍获得清洁能源技术的可能性，我们描述了一个具有弹性和公正性的能源未来，该技术可以支持家庭医疗保健，并根据气候变化具有多种共同利益。有了更多的证据，政策，激励措施和市场设计，弹性电力技术可以在不久的将来为需要可靠和弹性电力供应的所有人群提供服务。通过提供获取清洁能源技术的可能性，这些技术可以支持家庭医疗保健，并根据气候变化具有多种共同利益。有了更多的证据，政策，激励措施和市场设计，弹性电力技术可以在不久的将来为需要可靠和弹性电力供应的所有人群提供服务。通过提出获取清洁能源技术的可能性，这些技术可以支持家庭医疗保健，并根据气候变化具有多种共同利益。有了更多的证据，政策，激励措施和市场设计，弹性电力技术可以在不久的将来为需要可靠和弹性电力供应的所有人群提供服务。