Utah Winter Utility Shutoff Rules

Q: Does Utah 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 15 to Mar 15. Utah Department of Workforce Services is the rule behind it.

Q: Who handles a winter disconnection dispute in Utah?

Utah Division of Public Utilities takes consumer complaints about regulated utilities, on 801-530-7622 or 800-874-0904. Its own words: "If you have tried to resolve the problem with the company and are not satisfied with the results, you may file an informal complaint with the Division of Public Utilities (DPU)."

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

Utah runs Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) Program through Utah Department of Workforce Services, with applications opening Nov 1. The heating assistance page for Utah 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 15 to Mar 15

The winter window

November 15 through March 15

Regulated only

Who the rule reaches

Regulated utilities only

Act first

The household must

the protection is not automatic

The answer

What Utah requires of a utility in winter

Protection filed for

Once the household files, Nov 15 to Mar 15

Between November 15 and the following March 15 a household that applies and qualifies is protected from shutoff by a utility the Public Service Commission regulates, so long as it keeps to a payment plan.

What switches it on: Utah's protection is filed for rather than automatic, so a household that has not filed is not covered inside the season.
Utilities named: electric and natural gas
Who it reaches: The rule binds the utilities Utah Department of Workforce Services 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 household applies for the moratorium at its local HEAT office, has to already hold a termination notice or have been refused service, has to have applied for HEAT, and then has to make and keep a payment plan through the winter.

That is Utah Department of Workforce Services speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Utah Department of Workforce Services.

Moratorium protects eligible households from utility shut off between November 15 and the following March 15 and requires customers to make and adhere to a payment plan. Moratorium is available only by utility companies that are regulated by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Moratorium (Shut Off Protection), Utah Department of Workforce Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Do this first

The step that switches the protection on in Utah

Utah 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 applies for the moratorium at its local HEAT office, has to already hold a termination notice or have been refused service, has to have applied for HEAT, and then has to make and keep a payment plan through the winter.

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 Utah today

A household that has already been refused service or holds a termination notice is the household the moratorium is written for, and it is granted on top of at least one of four hardship tests: income that would qualify for HEAT, a medical or other emergency, a job loss, or a 50 percent drop in income, in the month of the application or the month before.

Who takes the complaint: Utah Division of Public Utilities
By phone: 801-530-7622 or 800-874-0904

Utah Division of Public Utilities, how to file

Applicant must have a termination notice from the utility company or have been refused service if the utility is not active. Applicant must have applied for HEAT. ... In addition, applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria: Gross household income in the month prior to the month of the moratorium application qualifies the household for HEAT assistance. Have suffered a medical or other emergency in either the month of application or the month prior to the month of application. Loss of employment in either the month of application or the month prior to the month of application. 50% drop in income in either the month of application or the month prior to the month of application.

Utah Department of Workforce Services, 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 Utah rule cover your utility

The rule binds the utilities Utah Department of Workforce Services 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 Utah answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Utah Department of Workforce Services. 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 natural gas service.

Help with the bill

Utah pays part of the heating bill through Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) Program

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. Utah Department of Workforce Services runs it, opening November 1 and closing September 30. The income test is 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

The HEAT Program provides year-round energy assistance for eligible low income households throughout Utah. ... The program year begins October 1st and ends the following September 30th of each year or when federal LIHEAP funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. ... Applications for the general public are processed November 1 - September 30 or when federal LIHEAP funds are exhausted.

Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) Program, Utah Department of Workforce Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

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

Utah winter shutoff questions

Can a utility shut off heat in winter in Utah?

Does Utah have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

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

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

What can a household in Utah already shut off do?

A household that has already been refused service or holds a termination notice is the household the moratorium is written for, and it is granted on top of at least one of four hardship tests: income that would qualify for HEAT, a medical or other emergency, a job loss, or a 50 percent drop in income, in the month of the application or the month before. Utah Department of Workforce Services publishes the path.

Who handles a winter disconnection dispute in Utah?

Is there help with the heating bill in Utah?

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

Utah heating assistanceUtah'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.

Utah read September 23, 2026 from Moratorium (Shut Off Protection), Utah Department of Workforce Services, 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.