Can Utilities Shut Off Your Power in Winter? Rules by State

In Wisconsin, from November 1 to April 15, a utility can’t cut off the heat of a household earning up to 250% of the poverty line, and can cut off anyone else only as a last resort. In Texas, there are no winter dates, but a utility can’t cut you off after a day that never got above freezing if more freezing weather is forecast. In Florida, there’s no winter rule of any kind. Whether a utility can shut off your power or gas in winter depends on your state, and often on your income and the weather forecast too.

Can your utility shut off your power or gas in winter?

Yes, in most states, unless it’s a cold day your state protects or your household is covered by its winter rule. Winter rules come in two kinds. A cold-day rule stops shutoffs when the forecast or the thermometer drops below a set temperature. A winter-date rule protects some households for a set period, often November to March. Thirteen states have both, and five have neither.

There’s no federal rule, so each state sets its own, through its public utility commission or its legislature. Most of these rules apply only to the utilities the state commission regulates, which are usually the large investor-owned ones. If an electric co-op or a city-owned utility serves you, its own board often sets its winter policy, and the state rule may not apply.

In Canada? Our guide to winter disconnection rules in Canada covers each province.

Winter shutoff rules in every state

This table gives each state’s cold-day rule, its winter dates and who those dates protect, for the winter of 2026-27. Each state’s name links to its rule. Hawaii has no winter rule, so its name links to the federal summary of state shutoff policies. LIHEAP, which several rules mention, is the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Where a state has a cold-day rule, it covers every home its regulated utilities serve, unless a note says otherwise. A star means there’s a condition, listed under the table.

• Arizona: Each gas utility uses either a forecast of 32°F or below or a National Weather Service winter weather advisory. Electric utilities choose between a cold-day rule and a summer ban, and APS, TEP and UNS Electric chose the summer ban.
• Arkansas: The gas winter dates cover customers approved for SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, LIHEAP or the state’s TANF program. They have to sign a payment agreement, pay a set amount each month, and repay the rest in seven payments from April to October.
• California: The rule applies to the state’s four largest investor-owned utilities (PG&E, Southern California Edison, SDG&E and SoCalGas), and each uses its own forecast.
• Connecticut: Hardship cases include households on public assistance or with income under 125% of the poverty line. Gas service is protected only if you heat with it.
• Delaware: The cold-day rule uses the actual 8 a.m. temperature at an airport in your county, and it applies all year.
• District of Columbia: A utility can’t cut you off on a day with a forecast of 32°F or below, on the day before it, or over a weekend or holiday right after such a day.
• Georgia: A customer is protected only on a day with a forecast low below 32°F (48 hours ahead for gas), and only after agreeing in writing to pay the past-due amount between April and October.
• Idaho: The winter dates cover households that tell the utility they can’t pay and have a child, someone 62 or older, or someone whose health would be at risk.
• Illinois: The cold-day rule covers homes whose only heat is gas or electric. From December 1 to March 31, the law (opens in a new tab) bars shutoffs for energy assistance participants and for service members and veterans who tell the utility. Other customers who heat with gas or electricity have to be offered a payment plan first.
• Indiana: The winter dates cover customers who get help from the Energy Assistance Program, or who qualify and have applied, once they give the utility proof.
• Iowa: The cold-day rule covers homes heated only by electricity or gas, and counts the actual temperature as well as the forecast. The winter dates cover households a local agency certifies as eligible for LIHEAP or weatherization help.
• Kentucky: A state certificate of eligibility for energy assistance delays a shutoff by 30 days.
• Louisiana: Both conditions have to hold: the previous day’s high stayed at or below 32°F, and the forecast says it will stay there for the next 24 hours.
• Maine: A utility needs the state’s permission for a winter shutoff, which it can get when a customer refuses or breaks a payment arrangement.
• Maryland: A utility has to file a sworn statement with the state that a shutoff won’t threaten anyone’s health or life, at least 24 hours ahead.
• Massachusetts: The protection covers gas or electric service that heats a home where the household is in financial hardship. The state can extend the winter dates, and last winter it ran from October 27 to April 1.
• Michigan: The winter dates cover households at or below 150% of the poverty line, or 65 and older, who ask the utility for shutoff protection.
• Minnesota: The winter dates cover households at or below 50% of the state median income who keep to a payment agreement. Minnesota calls this its Cold Weather Rule.
• Mississippi: The cold-day rule applies when a National Weather Service freeze warning for your county is in effect at 8 a.m. on the shutoff day. The winter dates cover customers who sign a statement that they can’t pay and keep to a payment plan.
• Missouri: The cold-day rule covers heating service from November 1 to March 31. The season-long protection covers registered low-income customers who are 65 or older or disabled, on a payment plan.
• Montana: A utility needs the state’s approval for every winter shutoff. Households with someone 62 or older or disabled who can’t pay are protected all winter and on any freezing day, judged by the 8 a.m. temperature or the next day’s forecast.
• Nebraska: Every gas customer gets 30 more days to pay, and a customer certified for LIHEAP can’t be cut off at all.
• Nevada: The cold-day limit is 20°F for electric customers who are elderly or disabled and have told the utility.
• New Hampshire: A utility needs state approval to cut off anyone 65 or older.
• New Jersey: The winter dates cover customers on LIHEAP, SSI, TANF, Lifeline or similar programs, and customers who can’t pay because of job loss, illness or a death in the family. Both groups have to enroll in budget billing and make good-faith payments.
• New Mexico: The winter dates cover LIHEAP-qualified customers who had no past-due balance on November 15 or are keeping to a payment plan.
• New York: A utility has to try to reach you by phone and in person before cutting off heating service, and call in social services if anyone at home could be harmed.
• North Carolina: The winter dates cover households that can’t pay, have someone 65 or older or disabled, and are certified as eligible for crisis aid. A utility needs the state’s approval to cut them off.
• Ohio: Separately from the winter dates, this winter’s reconnect order (opens in a new tab), from October 12 to April 16, keeps or restores service for a payment of up to $175, plus a reconnection fee of up to $36, once a winter.
• Oklahoma: The cold-day rule covers service used for heating.
• Oregon: From November 1 to April 30, shutoffs stop 24 hours before a forecast of 32°F or below or a winter storm warning, and resume 48 hours after the cold or the warning ends.
• Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Gas Works can cut off some households between 151% and 250% of the poverty line after January 1, unless the home has someone 65 or older, a child 12 or under, or a medical certificate.
• Rhode Island: A household can’t be cut off if every adult is 62 or older, if someone in it is disabled or seriously ill, if the customer is on unemployment or gets LIHEAP, or if it has a child under 2 and financial hardship. Everyone else is protected unless they owe more than $500 for heating service, or $200 for other service.
• South Carolina: The winter dates cover a household with a doctor’s certificate that a shutoff would be especially dangerous to someone’s health, if the customer signs that they can’t pay. The certificate lasts about a month and can be renewed three times.
• Tennessee: Most of the state gets its power from TVA through city utilities and co-ops, which set their own winter policies.
• Texas: Both conditions have to hold: the previous day’s high stayed at or below 32°F, and the forecast says it will stay there for the next 24 hours. City-owned utilities and co-ops set their own rules.
• Utah: The winter dates cover customers approved through the state’s Utility Moratorium Program (opens in a new tab), who pay at least 5% of their income each month, or 10% if they heat with electricity.
• Vermont: The limit is 32°F for a household with someone 62 or older who tells the utility in writing.
• Washington: The winter dates cover low-income customers who tell the utility they can’t pay, apply for heating assistance and keep to a payment plan.
• West Virginia: The cold-day rule covers electric service.
• Wisconsin: The winter dates cover heating service. They also cover households at any income whose health or safety would be at risk. A utility can cut off any other household only as a last resort, after meeting with the customer.

How the cold-day rules work

Most cold-day rules use a National Weather Service forecast and a limit of 32°F. But “32°F” doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere, so check how your state measures it.

• How far ahead the forecast goes. Alabama and West Virginia look at that day only. Most states look 24 hours ahead. Kansas, Vermont and Wyoming look 48 hours ahead, and Maryland, Missouri and California look 72 hours ahead.
• Low or high. Most rules use the forecast low. New Jersey and Maryland use the forecast high, so a day that’s below freezing overnight but warms up in the afternoon doesn’t count.
• Two conditions. Texas and Louisiana need a freezing day and a freezing forecast, so a cold night after a mild day doesn’t count.
• A reading or a warning. Delaware uses the 8 a.m. temperature at an airport in your county, not a forecast, and Montana counts the 8 a.m. temperature too. Mississippi uses a freeze warning.

On a protected day, the utility postpones the shutoff, and it can go ahead on the next day the rule doesn’t cover.

Which states protect only some households?

Most winter-date rules cover only some households. Pennsylvania protects households with income up to 250% of the poverty line. Minnesota protects households at or below half the state median income, and Michigan protects those at or below 150% of the poverty line or 65 and older. Others cover only households that have applied for energy assistance.

In Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, Nebraska and Utah, the winter protection is tied to energy assistance, so the first step is applying for it. Apply before you fall behind, and give the utility proof as soon as you have it. In most states with an income rule, the protection isn’t automatic, so tell the utility you qualify.

Where the winter dates mean more notice, not a ban

In some states, the winter dates add steps before a shutoff without stopping it. New York’s utilities have to try to reach you by phone and at your door. Maryland’s have to file a sworn statement with the state. Ohio’s have to contact you again 10 days before the shutoff. South Dakota adds 30 days to the usual notice. And in Maine and Montana, a utility needs the state’s approval for every winter shutoff, while New Hampshire requires it for customers 65 and older.

Does a winter moratorium mean you don’t have to pay?

No. Bills and late fees keep adding up through the winter, and the utility can cut you off over the whole balance once the protection ends, often in April or May.

Here’s what that looks like for a home heated mainly with electricity whose December to March bills go unpaid, using the Energy Information Administration’s forecast (opens in a new tab) for this winter’s average bills:

April to October is the usual catch-up window. Arkansas splits its gas program’s winter balance into seven payments over those months, and Georgia, Kentucky and Washington want it paid by mid-October. A home heated with natural gas would owe less. The EIA forecasts $640 for its whole November-to-March season.

That’s why many states pair the winter protection with a payment plan. Here’s what some of these plans require you to pay:

Michigan’s protection for households 65 and older doesn’t depend on a plan. They can’t be cut off during the heating season even if they don’t pay, and they repay the balance in installments from April to October.

What should you do if you get a shutoff notice?

Call the utility before the date on the notice and ask about its winter protection program by name, such as the Cold Weather Rule in Kansas, Minnesota or Missouri. Then apply for energy assistance, which in several states is what makes you eligible for the winter protection in the first place.

Call the number on your bill, not the number in a message

A real shutoff notice comes in writing first, with a date. A call, text or visit that demands payment within the hour by gift card, wire transfer, crypto or a payment app is a scam, according to the FTC (opens in a new tab). Hang up and call the number on your bill. If you’ve already paid a scammer, our guide to getting money back after a scam covers what to try first.

Apply for LIHEAP

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is federal money that each state hands out to help pay heating bills, with crisis payments when a shutoff is close. Federal law (opens in a new tab) lets states help households earning up to 150% of the poverty line or 60% of the state median income, whichever is higher, and each state sets its own limit within that. Find your state’s office at EnergyHelp.us (opens in a new tab), or call the National Energy Assistance Referral line at 1-866-674-6327. Calling 211 (opens in a new tab) can point you to other local funds.

If someone at home is sick

Tell the utility on the first call. In most states, a doctor’s certificate that a shutoff would harm someone’s health delays it. The delay is 21 days in Michigan, at least 21 days in Kansas, 30 days in New York, Ohio and Iowa, 60 days in Illinois and Mississippi, 90 days in Colorado and New Jersey, and 120 days in Delaware. Many states let you renew it, though some ask you to set up a payment plan too.

If the utility won’t work with you

File a complaint with your state’s utility commission before the shutoff date, if you can. The LIHEAP Clearinghouse (opens in a new tab) lists each state’s commission, with its phone number and complaint form.

Saving for the bill that comes due in spring

The months after a winter moratorium can be harder than the winter itself, with a catch-up payment on top of every new bill. Many utilities offer budget billing, which spreads the year’s bills into the same amount each month, so January costs about what July does. A cushion helps too. Setting aside a little each week over the summer can cover the month a heating bill comes in higher than you planned.

With Lodavo, the money you set aside for next winter also earns free tickets for weekly cash prize draws. The bigger your savings, the more tickets you get. It’s live in Canada, and the waitlist for the US is below.

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

This is general information, not legal advice. Winter rules change, and your utility can be more flexible than its state’s minimum, so check your state’s rule, linked in the table, and ask your utility before you count on a date.