Can They Shut Off Your Heat in Winter in Nevada?
Nevada runs on the thermometer rather than the calendar: a regulated electric or gas utility has to hold off a nonpayment shutoff whenever the National Weather Service forecast for the next 24 hours reaches the cold threshold set for that customer, 20 degrees for a household with an elderly or disabled member and 15 degrees otherwise, and the Energy Assistance Program takes applications all year from July 1 through June 30.
What Nevada requires of a utility in winter
At or below 20F
Nevada sets no winter calendar moratorium; instead a regulated electric or gas utility must postpone a nonpayment shutoff whenever the National Weather Service forecast for the next 24 hours puts the local temperature at or below the threshold the rule sets for that customer, and it may not shut off at all when it knows a permanent resident is confined to the home, on a life support device and likely to die without it.
- What switches it on
- Nevada works off the forecast: the bar applies while the National Weather Service forecast is at or below 20F, and lapses when it is not.
- Utilities named
- electric and gas
- Who it reaches
- Public Utilities Commission of Nevada does not state on the page the rule was read from whether municipal systems and cooperatives fall under the rule.
- What the household must do
- Nothing. Inside the rule it applies on its own.
That is Public Utilities Commission of Nevada speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, NAC 704.375.
If a utility intends to terminate service to a customer or a multiunit residential complex because of nonpayment, the utility shall postpone the termination if the termination would occur during a forecasted period of extreme temperature for the local geographical area which encompasses the location where service is provided and which typically experiences similar temperature conditions as the location where service is provided.Nevada Administrative Code Chapter 704, Regulation of Public Utilities Generally, Nevada Legislature, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Who to call in Nevada today
A statement from a licensed physician, public health official or advanced practice registered nurse that losing service would be especially dangerous to the health of a permanent resident, filed together with the customer's signed statement that it cannot pay in full or can pay only in installments, postpones a shutoff 30 days and can be renewed for another 30, with an installment period of up to 90 days.
- Who takes the complaint
- Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, Consumer Complaint Resolution Division
- By phone
- Northern Nevada (775) 684-6100, Southern Nevada (702) 486-2600
Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, Consumer Complaint Resolution Division, how to file
A utility shall postpone the termination of service to a customer for 30 days after the day on which it receives both of the following: (a) A statement from a licensed physician, public health official or advanced practice registered nurse certifying that any termination of service would be especially dangerous to the health of the customer or another person who is a permanent resident of the premises where service is being provided and would constitute an emergency affecting the health of the person.Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, 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 Nevada rule cover your utility
Public Utilities Commission of Nevada does not state on the page the rule was read from whether municipal systems and cooperatives fall under the rule.
That means a rural electric cooperative and a municipal light or gas department in Nevada answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. 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 gas service.
Nevada pays part of the heating bill through Energy Assistance Program (EAP)
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. Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services runs it, opening July 1 and closing June 30. The income test is Total monthly gross household income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines..
The EAP program year begins July 1st and applications are accepted through June 30th. Applications are evaluated year round or until funding is exhausted. Eligible households receive an annual, one-time per year benefit customarily paid directly to their energy provider(s).Energy, Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The full Nevada page, with the season, the income test and how to apply, is at heating assistance in Nevada.
Nevada winter shutoff questions
Winter shutoff rules in other states
Nevada read September 23, 2026 from Nevada Administrative Code Chapter 704, Regulation of Public Utilities Generally, Nevada Legislature, 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.