Winter utility disconnection moratorium dates by state
Which calendar window each state bars an electric or gas utility from disconnecting a residential heating customer for non-payment, who the protection covers, and what a household has to do to be covered. This is not a one-time lifecycle date (like a filing deadline) and not a dollar threshold that varies by state (like a statute of limitations) -- it is a window that recurs every year, on dates a public utility commission or legislature sets, and that a household loses the moment they miss the condition attached to it (an income test, a deferred payment agreement, a demonstration of eligibility). One record per state. Answers 'can my gas get shut off in winter', 'when does the heating moratorium start in Illinois', 'utility shutoff protection dates by state', 'does my state have a winter moratorium'. Every record quotes the state's own statute or administrative code, not a legal-aid or tenant-rights summary -- summaries routinely print last year's dates or omit the eligibility condition, and the condition is what turns 'utilities cannot disconnect anyone' into 'utilities cannot disconnect a customer whose income is at or below 50 percent of the state median', which is a materially different fact. NOTE ON QUOTE LENGTH: several states set the window in one subsection and the eligibility condition in another, so a record's source_quote is the contiguous run of the provision that contains both, which on Wisconsin runs past two intervening subsections. That is deliberate. A shorter quote would mean publishing the window without the condition that limits it, which is the exact error this asset exists to prevent.
The data
| State | Who it covers | Moratorium window | Condition attached to the protection | Source authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | any residential customer or master-metered apartment building | during the period of time from December 1 through and including March 31 of the immediately succeeding calendar year | 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 | 280.135 |
| Minnesota | A municipal utility or a cooperative electric association | during the period between October 1 and April 30 | 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 | 216B.097 |
| Montana | residential service | During the period November 1st to April 1st | 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 | 38.5.1410 |
| New Jersey | Electric, gas, water, and wastewater utilities | during the period from November 15 through March 15 | 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. | 14:3-3A.5 |
| Wisconsin | utility service which provides the primary heat source or energy source affecting the primary heat source to residential dwelling units | during the period November 1 to April 15 in any year | A utility may disconnect only those households whose gross quarterly incomes are above 250% of the federal income poverty guidelines | PSC 113.0304 |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 5 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- law.cornell.eduhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/illinois/Ill-Admin-Code-tit-83-SS-280.135
- revisor.mn.govhttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216B.097
- 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
- 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.
- 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-winter-shutoff-moratorium-by-state state=Illinois
npx -y refsource lookup utility-winter-shutoff-moratorium-by-state state=Illinois