Can They Shut Off Your Heat in Winter in New Jersey?
New Jersey holds the line from November 15 to March 15 for households on LIHEAP, the Universal Service Fund, Lifeline, TANF, SSI, PAAD or General Assistance, and for anyone who tells the utility they cannot pay because of job loss, illness or a death in the family, but the protection has to be asked for rather than applied automatically.
What New Jersey requires of a utility in winter
November 15 to March 15
Between November 15 and March 15 a utility may not shut off electric, gas, water or wastewater service to a household on one of nine listed programs or benefits, or to a household that says it cannot pay because of unemployment, illness, medical costs, a death in the family or similar hardship.
- What switches it on
- New Jersey Board of Public Utilities's rule runs from November 15 to March 15 and applies inside those dates on its own, without the household filing anything.
- Utilities named
- electric, gas, water and wastewater
- Who it reaches
- New Jersey Board of Public Utilities 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
- The household has to ask its utility for Winter Termination Program protection, and a household that is not on one of the listed benefit programs may self certify to the utility or to the Board's Division of Customer Assistance that it cannot pay because of something outside its control.
That is New Jersey Board of Public Utilities speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
The Winter Termination Program protects specific categories of customers from having their water, wastewater, gas or electricity shut off between November 15 and March 15 of each year.Utility Assistance Programs, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The step that switches the protection on in New Jersey
New Jersey 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.
The household has to ask its utility for Winter Termination Program protection, and a household that is not on one of the listed benefit programs may self certify to the utility or to the Board's Division of Customer Assistance that it cannot pay because of something outside its control.
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.
Who to call in New Jersey today
A household already shut off can ask for reconnection once a year per service by showing proof that it has applied to the Universal Service Fund, LIHEAP, PAGE or another assistance program, after a down payment of up to a quarter of what it owes.
- Who takes the complaint
- New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Division of Customer Assistance
- By phone
- (800) 624-0241
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Division of Customer Assistance, how to file
Gas, electric, water, and wastewater customers may request reconnection of service once per year, per utility service, with proof of application to USF, LIHEAP, PAGE, or any other State, local or utility assistance program that provides assistance or discounted rates. Customer must first make a down-payment of up to 25% of the outstanding balance.New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, 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 New Jersey rule cover your utility
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities 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 New Jersey answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. 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, gas, water and wastewater service.
New Jersey 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. New Jersey Department of Community Affairs runs it, opening October 1 and closing June 30. The income test is gross household income at or below 60 percent of the New Jersey state median income, and responsibility for the home heating or cooling cost either directly or through the rent.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is designed to help low-income families and individuals meet home heating and medically necessary cooling costs. This year, the application period, based on a first come first serve basis, is October 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Universal Service Fund FFY 2027 Fact Sheet, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The full New Jersey page, with the season, the income test and how to apply, is at heating assistance in New Jersey.
New Jersey winter shutoff questions
Winter shutoff rules in other states
New Jersey read September 23, 2026 from Utility Assistance Programs, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, 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.