Can They Shut Off Your Heat in Winter in Colorado?
In Colorado a regulated electric or gas utility cannot shut a household off on any day the morning forecast calls for 32F or lower in the next 24 hours, and LEAP takes heating bill applications from November 1 through April 30.
What Colorado requires of a utility in winter
At or below 32F
Colorado sets no calendar winter window; the Public Utilities Commission requires investor owned electric and gas utilities to postpone a disconnection on any day the morning National Weather Service forecast puts the temperature at 32F or lower within the next 24 hours.
- What switches it on
- Colorado works off the forecast: the bar applies while the National Weather Service forecast is at or below 32F, and lapses when it is not.
- Utilities named
- electric and natural gas
- Who it reaches
- The rule binds the utilities Colorado Public Utilities Commission regulates. A household on a municipal system or a rural cooperative is covered by that system's own policy instead.
- What the household must do
- Nothing. Inside the rule it applies on its own.
That is Colorado Public Utilities Commission speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Colorado Public Utilities Commission, 4 CCR 723-3-3407 (electric) and 4 CCR 723-4-4407 (gas).
Utilities must postpone disconnections due to cold or hot weather. Your electric or natural gas service may not be disconnected on any day when the National Weather Service local forecast between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. predicts the temperature will be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower at any time in the following 24 hours, or any additional period in which utility personnel are not able to restore service.Your Rights As An Electric Or Natural Gas Utility Customer, Colorado Public Utilities Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Who to call in Colorado today
A shut off can be stopped by paying at least one tenth of the amount on the notice and setting up an installment plan, or by giving the utility a medical certificate, which holds off disconnection for 90 days once in any 12 months, and service disconnected for nonpayment is restored within 24 hours of payment, a first installment payment or a medical certificate.
- Who takes the complaint
- Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Consumer Affairs
- By phone
- 303-894-2070 or 1-800-456-0858
Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Consumer Affairs, how to file
Residential consumers also can postpone a shut off by giving the utility company a "medical certificate" from a physician or a health care practitioner acting under a physician's authority or who is licensed to prescribe and treat patients, stating that disconnecting service would be especially dangerous to the health or safety of the customer or a permanent resident of the customer's household. (Rule 3407 / 4407) If a medical certification is given to the company, no shut off of service will occur 90 days from the date of the certificate.Colorado Public Utilities Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A commission’s consumer division is not a courtesy line. In most states a company must hold a disconnection while a formal complaint about that account is open, which is a different and stronger thing than asking the company to reconsider. Ring the utility first, then the commission if the answer is no.
Does the Colorado rule cover your utility
The rule binds the utilities Colorado Public Utilities Commission regulates. A household on a municipal system or a rural cooperative is covered by that system's own policy instead.
That means a rural electric cooperative and a municipal light or gas department in Colorado answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Many adopt a winter policy of their own that is as protective or more so, and the place to find it is the cooperative's or the town's own tariff.
The rule names electric and natural gas service.
Colorado pays part of the heating bill through Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP)
A shutoff rule and a heating grant are separate things, and in several states an approved grant application is itself what satisfies the filing the shutoff rule asks for. Colorado Department of Human Services runs it, opening November 1 and closing April 30. The income test is 60 percent of the state median income.
The Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) is a federally funded program that helps eligible hard-working Colorado families, seniors and individuals pay a portion of their winter home heating costs. ... The LEAP program works to keep our communities warm during the winter (November through April) by providing assistance with heating costs, equipment repair and/or replacement of inoperable heating tools.Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), Colorado Department of Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The full Colorado page, with the season, the income test and how to apply, is at heating assistance in Colorado.
Colorado winter shutoff questions
Winter shutoff rules in other states
Colorado read September 23, 2026 from Your Rights As An Electric Or Natural Gas Utility Customer, Colorado Public Utilities Commission, linked above. A commission can order a company to do something its published rule does not require, and rules change between seasons, so the agency page is the one that governs. Every state is on the winter shutoff hub.