# Washington · residential space heating service — Winter utility shutoff/disconnection moratorium by state

For Washington · residential space heating service, state is Washington; citation is 480-100-143; moratorium window is between November 15th and March 15th; covered utilities is residential space heating service; eligibility / income test is 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, verified against its source on 2026-08-19.

- **State:** Washington _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Citation:** 480-100-143 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Moratorium window:** between November 15th and March 15th _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Covered utilities:** residential space heating service _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Eligibility / income test:** 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 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> (1) During the winter months, between November 15th and March 15th, an electric utility may not discontinue residential space heating service if the customer does all of the following: (a) Notifies the utility of the inability to pay the bill and any required deposit. This notice should be provided within five business days of receiving a delinquency notice unless there are extenuating circumstances. If the customer does not notify the utility within five business days and service is disconnected, the customer can receive the protections of this chapter, by paying reconnection charges, if any, and by otherwise fulfilling the requirements of this section; (b) Provides self-certification of household income for the prior twelve months to a grantee of the department of community, trade, and economic development or its successor. For the purposes of this section, the grantee is a contractor operating low-income energy assistance programs for the department of community, trade, and economic development. 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. The grantee will, within thirty days, provide a dollar figure to the utility that is seven percent of the household income. For the purposes of this section, household income is defined as the total income of all household members as determined by the grantee. The grantee may verify information provided in the self-certification;

## Source

- https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=480-100-143

Last verified: 2026-08-19. Review by: 2027-02-15.
Part of [Winter utility shutoff/disconnection moratorium by state](https://referencesource.org/utility-shutoff-moratorium-by-state/).