Can They Shut Off Your Heat in Winter in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania closes the door on winter shutoffs for the households most likely to face one: from December 1 through March 31 a regulated electric or gas utility cannot cut off a home at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level without asking the Commission first, and the utility has to check the household's income before it acts.
What Pennsylvania requires of a utility in winter
December 1 to March 31
Between December 1 and March 31 an electric or gas utility under the Commission's jurisdiction may not shut off a household whose income is at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level without the Commission's permission, and a water utility may not shut off heat related service at all in that window; the one city owned gas operation is given a narrower January 1 exception.
- What switches it on
- Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's rule runs from December 1 to March 31 and applies inside those dates on its own, without the household filing anything.
- Utilities named
- electric, natural gas and water used for heat
- Who it reaches
- The rule binds the utilities Pennsylvania Public Utility 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
- The utility has to check household size and income against its own records before it can shut anyone off in winter, so a household whose income is not on file should give the utility that information when a termination notice arrives.
That is Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 52 Pa. Code Section 56.100.
Unless otherwise authorized by the Commission, during the period of December 1 through March 31, an electric distribution utility or natural gas distribution utility may not terminate service to customers with household incomes at or below 250% of the Federal poverty level except as provided in this section or in 56.98.52 Pa. Code Section 56.100, Winter termination procedures, Pennsylvania Code, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The step that switches the protection on in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania 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 utility has to check household size and income against its own records before it can shut anyone off in winter, so a household whose income is not on file should give the utility that information when a termination notice arrives.
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 Pennsylvania today
A utility has to put service back on within 24 hours for any termination or reconnection that happens between December 1 and March 31, and within 24 hours at any time of year on a valid medical certificate or after an erroneous shutoff.
- Who takes the complaint
- Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
- By phone
- 1-800-692-7380
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, how to file
Within 24 hours for terminations and reconnections occurring after November 30 and before April 1.Pennsylvania Public Utility 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 Pennsylvania rule cover your utility
The rule binds the utilities Pennsylvania Public Utility 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 Pennsylvania answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Pennsylvania Public Utility 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 water used for heat service.
Pennsylvania 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. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services runs it, opening November 2. The income test is a household income limit set by household size, 23,940 dollars for one person and 49,500 dollars for four, with 8,520 dollars added for each additional person.
The 2026-2027 LIHEAP Season is scheduled to open on November 2, 2026.Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The full Pennsylvania page, with the season, the income test and how to apply, is at heating assistance in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania winter shutoff questions
Winter shutoff rules in other states
Pennsylvania read September 23, 2026 from 52 Pa. Code Section 56.100, Winter termination procedures, Pennsylvania Code, 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.