Minnesota · utility heating service

For Minnesota · utility heating service, state is Minnesota; citation is 216B.096 COLD WEATHER RULE; PUBLIC UTILITY; moratorium window is October 1 through April 30; covered utilities is utility heating service; eligibility / income test is 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, verified against its source on 2026-08-19.

What the source says

(b) "Cold weather period" means the period from October 1 through April 30 of the following year. (c) "Customer" means a residential customer of a utility. (d) "Disconnection" means the involuntary loss of utility heating service as a result of a physical act by a utility to discontinue service. Disconnection includes installation of a service or load limiter or any device that limits or interrupts utility service in any way. (e) "Household income" means the combined income, as defined in section <https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2025/cite/290A.03> 290A.03 , subdivision 3, of all residents of the customer's household, computed on an annual basis. Household income does not include any amount received for energy assistance. (f) "Reasonably timely payment" means payment within five working days of agreed-upon due dates. (g) "Reconnection" means the restoration of utility heating service after it has been disconnected. (h) "Summary of rights and responsibilities" means a commission-approved notice that contains, at a minimum, the following: (1) an explanation of the provisions of subdivision 5; (2) an explanation of no-cost and low-cost methods to reduce the consumption of energy; (3) a third-party notice; (4) ways to avoid disconnection; (5) information regarding payment agreements; (6) an explanation of the customer's right to appeal a determination of income by the utility and the right to appeal if the utility and the customer cannot arrive at a mutually acceptable payment agreement; and (7) a list of names and telephone numbers for county and local energy assistance and weatherization providers in each county served by the utility. (i) "Third-party notice" means a commission-approved notice containing, at a minimum, the following information: (1) a statement that the utility will send a copy of any future notice of proposed disconnection of utility heating service to a third party designated by the residential customer; (2) instructions on how to request this service; and (3) a statement that the residential customer should contact the person the customer intends to designate as the third-party contact before providing the utility with the party's name. (j) "Utility" means a public utility as defined in section <https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2025/cite/216B.02> 216B.02 , and a cooperative electric association electing to be a public utility under section <https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2025/cite/216B.026> 216B.026 . Utility also means a municipally owned gas or electric utility for nonresident consumers of the municipally owned utility and a cooperative electric association when a complaint in connection with utility heating service during the cold weather period is filed under section <https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2025/cite/216B.17#stat.216B.17.6> 216B.17, subdivision 6 or 6a. (k) "Utility heating service" means natural gas or electricity used as a primary heating source, including electricity service necessary to operate gas heating equipment, for the customer's primary residence. (l) "Working days" means Mondays through Fridays, excluding legal holidays. The day of receipt of a personally served notice and the day of mailing of a notice shall not be counted in calculating working days. § Subd. 3. Utility obligations before cold weather period. Each year, between August 15 and October 1, each utility must provide all customers, personally, by first class mail, or electronically for those requesting electronic billing, a summary of rights and responsibilities. The summary must also be provided to all new residential customers when service is initiated. § Subd. 4. Notice before disconnection during cold weather period. Before disconnecting utility heating service during the cold weather period, a utility must provide, personally or by first class mail, a commission-approved notice to a customer, in easy-to-understand language, that contains, at a minimum, the date of the scheduled disconnection, the amount due, and a summary of rights and responsibilities. § Subd. 5. Cold weather rule. (a) During the cold weather period, a utility may not disconnect and must reconnect utility heating service of a customer whose 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 that is based on the financial resources and circumstances of the household; provided that, a utility may not require a customer to pay more than ten percent of the household income toward current and past utility bills for utility heating service.

— revisor.mn.gov, retrieved 2026-08-19

Source

• revisor.mn.govhttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216B.096

Last verified against source: 2026-08-19. Due for re-check by 2027-02-15. This page as Markdown · OKF bundle · full dataset as JSON.