New York Winter Utility Shutoff Rules

Q: Does New York have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

Not in the form the question usually assumes. The commission sets no window and instead requires a winter disconnection to be reviewed before it happens. The short form of it is: Reviewed one household at a time. New York State Public Service Commission, N.Y. Pub. Serv. Law Section 32(3)(c), the Home Energy Fair Practices Act is the rule behind it.

Q: Is there help with the heating bill in New York?

New York runs Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) through New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. The heating assistance page for New York covers the income test and the front door.

Reviewed case by case

What the rule runs on

any household whose disconnection reaches the commission first

Nov 1 to Apr 15

The winter window

November 1 through April 15

Co-ops too

Who the rule reaches

Municipal systems and co-ops too

Act first

The household must

the protection is not automatic

The answer

What New York requires of a utility in winter

Reviewed case by case

Reviewed one household at a time

New York does not close the window on winter shutoffs outright; between November 1 and April 15 a utility supplying heat related service has to try to reach an adult at the home three days before and again on the day of a shutoff to find out whether losing heat would seriously harm anyone there, and service continues while the local Department of Social Services investigates.

What switches it on: New York sets no season and instead puts a winter disconnection in front of New York State Public Service Commission before it happens.
Utilities named: electric, natural gas and steam
Who it reaches: New York State Public Service Commission's rule reaches municipal systems and cooperatives as well as the utilities it regulates.
What the household must do: Nothing is required to get the cold weather review itself, but a household where every adult is 62 or older, blind or disabled should tell the utility so the account is coded for the extra protection, and a doctor or the local board of health has to certify a medical emergency for the 30 day hold.

That is New York State Public Service Commission speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is New York State Public Service Commission, N.Y. Pub. Serv. Law Section 32(3)(c), the Home Energy Fair Practices Act.

During the cold weather period of November 1 to April 15, your utility has to make special efforts to determine if disconnection of your heat-related service will cause a problem to your health and safety. It will attempt to contact you or another adult at your home by phone or in person at least three days before the scheduled service shutoff, and again the day of the service shutoff, to determine whether shutting off your heat-related service could cause serious harm to the health or safety of any resident in your home.

Your Rights as a Residential Gas, Electric or Steam Customer under HEFPA, New York State Department of Public Service, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Do this first

The step that switches the protection on in New York

New York 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.

Nothing is required to get the cold weather review itself, but a household where every adult is 62 or older, blind or disabled should tell the utility so the account is coded for the extra protection, and a doctor or the local board of health has to certify a medical emergency for the 30 day hold.

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 New York today

A utility has to turn service back on within 24 hours where possible once the bill is paid or a payment agreement is signed, once the local Department of Social Services guarantees payment, or once it is told that serious harm to health or safety would follow from leaving the service off.

Who takes the complaint: New York State Department of Public Service, Consumer Services Division
By phone: 1-800-342-3377

New York State Department of Public Service, Consumer Services Division, how to file

If your service has been shut off for non-payment, the utility has to turn service back on within 24 hours, where possible, in the following situations: you have paid the amount due or signed a payment agreement and made the down payment, if required (see Deferred Payment Agreements below); when the local Department of Social Services agrees to make a direct payment on your behalf or provides a written guarantee of payment; where the utility is notified that serious harm to health or safety is likely to result if service is not reconnected (see Special Protections below); or when directed by the PSC.

New York State Department of Public Service, 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 New York rule cover your utility

New York State Public Service Commission's rule reaches municipal systems and cooperatives as well as the utilities it regulates.

Because New York writes the rule wider than the companies its commission regulates, a rural electric cooperative and a municipal light department are inside it too. Check the name on the bill anyway: the rule names classes of company rather than every company.

The rule names electric, natural gas and steam service.

Help with the bill

New York pays part of the heating bill through Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)

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 York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance runs it. The income test is .

All large electric and natural gas utilities provide the EAP discount to households that receive a Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefit, regardless of fuel or benefit type.

Energy Affordability Program, New York State Department of Public Service, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

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

New York winter shutoff questions

Can a utility shut off heat in winter in New York?

New York sets no season and instead puts a winter disconnection in front of New York State Public Service Commission before it happens. New York does not close the window on winter shutoffs outright; between November 1 and April 15 a utility supplying heat related service has to try to reach an adult at the home three days before and again on the day of a shutoff to find out whether losing heat would seriously harm anyone there, and service continues while the local Department of Social Services investigates.

Does New York have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

What does a household in New York have to do to be covered?

Nothing is required to get the cold weather review itself, but a household where every adult is 62 or older, blind or disabled should tell the utility so the account is coded for the extra protection, and a doctor or the local board of health has to certify a medical emergency for the 30 day hold. A household that does nothing is outside the protection even during the season, which is what separates New York from the states whose rule runs on the calendar alone.

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

What can a household in New York already shut off do?

Who handles a winter disconnection dispute in New York?

New York State Department of Public Service, Consumer Services Division takes consumer complaints about regulated utilities, on 1-800-342-3377. Its own words: "You can call our toll-free HELPLINE, 1-800-342-3377 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on business days. If your service has been, or is about to be, terminated for non-payment, or if a utility has refused to provide residential electric, natural gas or steam service, you can call our special toll-free Emergency HOTLINE, 1-800-342-3355 between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on business days."

Is there help with the heating bill in New York?

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

New York heating assistanceNew York'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.

New York read September 23, 2026 from Your Rights as a Residential Gas, Electric or Steam Customer under HEFPA, New York State Department of Public Service, 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.