Winter utility shutoff/disconnection moratorium by state
Whether a utility can disconnect service for non-payment during winter, and under what conditions, varies by state on the exact season window, which utility types are covered, and whether an income test applies. Existing free summaries (e.g. energy-broker lead-gen sites) round this to 'most cold states ban Dec-Mar disconnects', which is not precise enough to answer a specific household's situation. Each record is one state and one class of utility — several states set a different window or income test for water than for electric and gas — carrying the exact moratorium window, covered utility types, and eligibility/income test if any, sourced from the state's own regulation or utility-commission order rather than a secondary summary. Answers 'can my gas get shut off in January in Pennsylvania', 'does New Jersey's winter shutoff protection cover water bills', 'what income level qualifies for winter shutoff protection in my state'.
The data
| State | Citation | Moratorium window | Covered utilities | Eligibility / income test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | Ill. Admin. Code tit. 83, § 280.135 | December 1 through and including March 31 of the immediately succeeding calendar year | electric or gas public utility | Has offered the customer a winter deferred payment arrangement (winter DPA) allowing for payment of past due amounts over a period of not less than four months not to extend beyond the following November |
| Iowa | 476.20 Disconnection limited | November 1 through April 1 | a public utility furnishing gas or electricity | a “head of household” as defined in section 422.4, subsection 6, and is qualified for the low income home energy assistance program or weatherization assistance program |
| Maryland | 20.31.03.03 | November 1 through and including March 31 | An electric, gas, or electric and gas utility | unless the utility first certifies to the Commission by an affidavit filed at least 24 hours before the termination, that the termination does not constitute a threat to the life or health of the residential occupants |
| Minnesota | 216B.097 COLD WEATHER RULE; COOPERATIVE OR MUNICIPAL UTILITY | between October 1 and April 30 | A municipal utility or a cooperative electric association | all of the following conditions are met: (1) The household income of the customer is at or below 50 percent of the state median household income |
| Minnesota | 216B.096 COLD WEATHER RULE; PUBLIC UTILITY | October 1 through April 30 | utility heating service | household income is at or below 50 percent of the state median income if the customer enters into and makes reasonably timely payments under a mutually acceptable payment agreement with the utility |
| Montana | Mont. Admin. r. 38.5.1410 | November 1st to April 1st | residential service | no termination of residential service may take place if the customer establishes that he or she is unable to pay, or able to pay only installments, that he or she or a member of the household is at least 62 years old or that he or she or a member of the household is handicapped. (2) No termination of service may take place during the period of November 1st to April 1st except with specific prior approval of the Commission. |
| New Jersey | N.J. Admin. Code § 14:3-3A.5 | November 15 through March 15 | Electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities | those residential customers who demonstrate at the time of the intended termination that they are: 1. Recipients of benefits under the Lifeline Credit Program; 2. Recipients of benefits under the Federal Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), or certified as eligible therefore under standards set by the New Jersey Department of Human Services; 3. Recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); 4. Recipients of Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI); 5. Recipients of Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled (PAAD); 6. Recipients of General Assistance (GA) benefits; 7. Recipients of the Universal Service Fund (USF); 8. Applicants of the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program or any other State, local, or utility program that provides assistance or discounted rates specifically to help eligible customers pay wastewater or water bills that may exist at that time; or 9. Residential customers who are unable to pay their utility bills because of circumstances beyond their control. |
| Ohio | 4901:1-18-06 | within the period of November first through April fifteenth, unless the utility company completes each of the following | electric, gas, and natural gas | |
| Pennsylvania | 52 Pa. Code § 56.100 | In addition to the winter termination authority in subsection (b), a city natural gas distribution operation may terminate service after January 1 and before April 1 | City natural gas distribution utility | a customer whose household income exceeds 150% of the Federal poverty level but does not exceed 250% of the Federal poverty level, and starting January 1, has not paid at least 50% of charges for each of the prior 2 months |
| Pennsylvania | 52 Pa. Code § 56.100 | December 1 through March 31 | Electric distribution and natural gas distribution utilities | customers with household incomes at or below 250% of the Federal poverty level |
| Pennsylvania | 52 Pa. Code § 56.100 | December 1 through March 31 | Water distribution utilities | |
| Washington | 480-100-143 | between November 15th and March 15th | residential space heating service | The grantee will determine that the household income is not higher than the maximum allowed for eligibility under the state's plan for low-income energy assistance |
| Wisconsin | PSC 113.0304 | November 1 to April 15 in any year | utility service which provides the primary heat source or energy source affecting the primary heat source to residential dwelling units | A utility may disconnect only those households whose gross quarterly incomes are above 250% of the federal income poverty guidelines and where health and safety would not be endangered because of the infirmities of age, developmental or mental disabilities or like infirmities incurred at any age or the frailties associated with being very young, if service were terminated or not restored. |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 11 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- law.cornell.eduhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/illinois/Ill-Admin-Code-tit-83-SS-280.135
- legis.iowa.govhttps://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/476.20.pdf
- regs.maryland.govhttps://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/20.31.03.03
- revisor.mn.govhttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216B.097
- revisor.mn.govhttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216B.096
- law.cornell.eduhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/montana/Mont-Admin-r-38.5.1410
- law.cornell.eduhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-jersey/N-J-A-C-14-3-3A-5
- codes.ohio.govhttps://codes.ohio.gov/assets/laws/administrative-code/authenticated/4901/1/18/4901$1-18-06_20211101.pdf
- pacodeandbulletin.govhttps://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/052/chapter56/s56.100.html&d=reduce
- app.leg.wa.govhttps://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=480-100-143
- docs.legis.wisconsin.govhttps://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/psc/113/III/0304
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- data.csvThe same records as one flat table, for a spreadsheet or a dataframe. The last four columns are the source URL, the quoted sentence it was read from, the date we last checked it, and which columns are our reading rather than the page's words.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.
From your own code
Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.
pip install refsource
refsource lookup utility-shutoff-moratorium-by-state state=Illinois
npx -y refsource lookup utility-shutoff-moratorium-by-state state=IllinoisSet your AI assistant up to use this
Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.
{
"mcpServers": {
"referencesource": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
}
}
}Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project
Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:
When a question needs "Winter utility shutoff/disconnection moratorium by state", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `utility-shutoff-moratorium-by-state`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.