Montana Winter Utility Shutoff Rules

Q: Does Montana have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

Not in the form the question usually assumes. The protection is granted to a household that files for it, so the filing, not the calendar, is what switches it on. The short form of it is: Once the household files, Nov 1 to Apr 1. Montana Public Service Commission is the rule behind it.

Q: Is there help with the heating bill in Montana?

Montana runs Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, delivered by local eligibility offices (Human Resource Development Councils) and Tribal LIHEAP offices, with applications opening Oct 1. The heating assistance page for Montana covers the income test and the front door.

Protection filed for

What the rule runs on

the households that filed, and no one else

Nov 1 to Apr 1

The winter window

November 1 through April 1

Regulated only

Who the rule reaches

Regulated utilities only

Act first

The household must

the protection is not automatic

The answer

What Montana requires of a utility in winter

Protection filed for

Once the household files, Nov 1 to Apr 1

Between November 1 and April 1 a Commission regulated electric, natural gas or underground propane utility may not shut off residential service for nonpayment without the Public Service Commission's prior approval, and the Commission does not approve the shutoff when the household has told the utility that it is low income, on public assistance, has a member 62 or older, or has a member who is handicapped.

What switches it on: Montana's protection is filed for rather than automatic, so a household that has not filed is not covered inside the season.
Utilities named: electric, natural gas and underground propane
Who it reaches: The rule binds the utilities Montana Public Service 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: Tell the utility before the shutoff date that the household qualifies, meaning income at or below the federal poverty guideline, a public assistance program, a member 62 or older, or a member who is handicapped, and expect the utility to ask for documentation.

That is Montana Public Service Commission speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Montana Public Service Commission.

From November 1 to April 1, a regulated utility may not shut off gas, underground propane, or electric residential service for non-payment without prior Commission approval. The Commission does not approve non-payment winter shutoffs if the customer is unable to pay (customer is a recipient of a public assistance program or has income at or below federal poverty guidelines) or if a member of the customer's household is either at least 62 years old or handicapped. It is the customer's responsibility to inform the utility if one or more of these circumstances exist in the household.

Deposit and Shutoff Rules, Consumer Assistance Program, Montana Public Service Commission, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Do this first

The step that switches the protection on in Montana

Montana is one of the states where the rule does not arrive on its own. Households who assume the season protects them find out otherwise in the middle of it, and the difference between the two outcomes is the paragraph below.

Tell the utility before the shutoff date that the household qualifies, meaning income at or below the federal poverty guideline, a public assistance program, a member 62 or older, or a member who is handicapped, and expect the utility to ask for documentation.

Do it before the disconnection date on the notice rather than after. Several states word the protection so that it stops a shutoff that has not happened yet and says nothing about restoring service that has.

Already off, or a notice has come

Who to call in Montana today

A household can stop or undo a nonpayment shutoff by paying the past due bill in full or entering a deferred payment agreement with the utility, and the Commission notes that a utility is not obliged to offer a second agreement after a broken one; a licensed health care professional's certificate that losing service would aggravate an existing medical condition puts a six month note on the account and adds further process before a shutoff.

Who takes the complaint: Montana Public Service Commission, Consumer Assistance Program
By phone: 1-800-646-6150

Montana Public Service Commission, Consumer Assistance Program, how to file

Shutoff can be avoided when the customer either pays the past due bill in full or enters into a deferred payment agreement with the company. If the payment agreement in broken, the utility does not have to enter into another agreement.

Montana Public Service 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.

The corner of a shingled house showing the mast and weatherhead where overhead lines land on the roof, and the round electric meter mounted on the wall below — The mast on the roof and the meter under it, on an ordinary house in Washington State. This is where an electric disconnection physically happens, and it is also why the rules are written by a public utility commission rather than a legislature in a good many states: the commission regulates the company that owns this wire. “Residence service drop”, Chetvorno, CC0

Who it covers

Does the Montana rule cover your utility

The rule binds the utilities Montana Public Service 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 Montana answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Montana Public Service 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, natural gas and underground propane service.

Help with the bill

Montana pays part of the heating bill through Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

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. Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, delivered by local eligibility offices (Human Resource Development Councils) and Tribal LIHEAP offices runs it, opening October 1 and closing April 30. The income test is For households of one through eight, 60 percent of the state median income; for households of ten or more, 150 percent of the poverty threshold. Resource limits apply as well, and a household on SNAP, SSI or TANF may qualify automatically..

You may apply for LIHEAP during the heating season, which is October 1 through April 30 of each year, by contacting the local eligibility office or Tribal LIHEAP office serving your community.

Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The full Montana page, with the season, the income test and how to apply, is at heating assistance in Montana.

Montana winter shutoff questions

Can a utility shut off heat in winter in Montana?

Montana's protection is filed for rather than automatic, so a household that has not filed is not covered inside the season. Between November 1 and April 1 a Commission regulated electric, natural gas or underground propane utility may not shut off residential service for nonpayment without the Public Service Commission's prior approval, and the Commission does not approve the shutoff when the household has told the utility that it is low income, on public assistance, has a member 62 or older, or has a member who is handicapped.

Does Montana have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

What does a household in Montana have to do to be covered?

Tell the utility before the shutoff date that the household qualifies, meaning income at or below the federal poverty guideline, a public assistance program, a member 62 or older, or a member who is handicapped, and expect the utility to ask for documentation. A household that does nothing is outside the protection even during the season, which is what separates Montana from the states whose rule runs on the calendar alone.

Does the rule cover rural co-ops and city utilities in Montana?

What can a household in Montana already shut off do?

A household can stop or undo a nonpayment shutoff by paying the past due bill in full or entering a deferred payment agreement with the utility, and the Commission notes that a utility is not obliged to offer a second agreement after a broken one; a licensed health care professional's certificate that losing service would aggravate an existing medical condition puts a six month note on the account and adds further process before a shutoff. Montana Public Service Commission publishes the path.

Who handles a winter disconnection dispute in Montana?

Montana Public Service Commission, Consumer Assistance Program takes consumer complaints about regulated utilities, on 1-800-646-6150. Its own words: "Prior to requesting assistance from the Commission, you must contact the utility to attempt to resolve the matter. If the results of those efforts were not satisfactory, you may request assistance from the Montana Public Service Commission Consumer Assistance Program."

Is there help with the heating bill in Montana?

A residential natural gas meter with its regulator and shutoff valve, mounted against pale house siding — A gas meter, which is the other half of the question and frequently the other half of the answer. A state rule can reach a regulated gas company and not reach the electric cooperative next door, or the reverse, so the protection you have often depends on which company sends which bill. “Gas meter”, RadRafe, Public domain

Winter shutoff rules in other states

Montana heating assistanceMontana's energy assistance program, its season and its income test.Heating assistance by stateWhen each state opens applications, the income test, and where to apply.Heating oil and propane pricesWhat the fuel costs this week in the states that report it.Frozen pipe riskThe forecast that puts pipes at risk, by ZIP.Winter shutoff rules in every stateHow the fifty states differ on whether a window, a forecast or a filing decides it.

Montana read September 23, 2026 from Deposit and Shutoff Rules, Consumer Assistance Program, Montana Public Service 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.