Virginia protects heat by the forecast, not the calendar

Can They Shut Off Your Heat in Winter in Virginia?

Q: Does Virginia have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

Not in the form the question usually assumes. There is no season. The protection turns on when the forecast crosses a stated temperature and lapses when the forecast passes. The short form of it is: At or below 32F. Virginia State Corporation Commission, Va. Code 56-245.1:3 (2024, cc. 790, 824); 20VAC5-330 for the serious medical condition delay is the rule behind it.

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

Virginia runs Energy Assistance Program (EAP) through Virginia Department of Social Services, with applications opening Oct (2nd Tuesday). The heating assistance page for Virginia covers the income test and the front door.

Virginia protects a household by temperature rather than by calendar: a regulated electric or gas utility cannot cut service for nonpayment when the National Weather Service forecast low is 32F or colder in the next 24 hours, a certified serious medical condition buys at least 30 more days and a reconnection without payment, and Fuel Assistance applications run for about a month in October and November with Crisis Assistance open through March 15.

Temperature trigger

What the rule runs on

every residential account the rule covers, on the days the forecast qualifies and not on the others

32°F

The temperature bar

read off the forecast, not the calendar

Regulated only

Who the rule reaches

Regulated utilities only

Do nothing

The household must

it applies on its own inside the rule

The answer

What Virginia requires of a utility in winter

Temperature trigger

At or below 32F

Virginia sets no calendar heating season moratorium; instead a statewide statute suspends nonpayment disconnections whenever the forecast low is at or below 32F in the next 24 hours, and a separate commission chapter gives households with a certified serious medical condition a 30 day delay.

What switches it on: Virginia works off the forecast: the bar applies while the National Weather Service forecast is at or below 32F, and lapses when it is not.
Utilities named: electric, natural gas, water and wastewater
Who it reaches: The rule binds the utilities Virginia State Corporation 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: Nothing. Inside the rule it applies on its own.

That is Virginia State Corporation Commission speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Virginia State Corporation Commission, Va. Code 56-245.1:3 (2024, cc. 790, 824); 20VAC5-330 for the serious medical condition delay.

No electric utility shall disconnect from service any residential customer for the nonpayment of bills or fees (i) when the forecasted temperature low is at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit within the 24 hours following the scheduled disconnection or (ii) when the forecasted temperature is at or above 92 degrees Fahrenheit within the 24 hours following the scheduled disconnection.

56-245.1:3. Disconnection suspension for utilities, Code of Virginia (Virginia Law Portal, Virginia General Assembly), read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Already off, or a notice has come

Who to call in Virginia today

A household disconnected within the past 14 days is reconnected on filing a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form and asking for reconnection, with no payment required as a condition, and termination is then delayed at least 30 days.

Who takes the complaint: Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Public Utility Regulation
By phone: 804-371-9611 or toll free 1-800-552-7945

Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Public Utility Regulation, how to file

In the event an investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, natural gas utility, or public utility providing water or wastewater service has terminated service to a residential customer within the preceding 14 calendar days, the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, natural gas utility, or public utility providing water or wastewater service shall promptly restore service upon (i) receipt of a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form or confirmation of such a form on file and (ii) a request from the customer to reconnect service. The investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, natural gas utility, or public utility providing water or wastewater service shall not be permitted to require any payment as a condition to reconnect

Virginia State Corporation 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.

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 Virginia rule cover your utility

The rule binds the utilities Virginia State Corporation 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 Virginia answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Virginia State Corporation 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, water and wastewater service.

Help with the bill

Virginia 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. Virginia Department of Social Services runs it, opening Oct (2nd Tuesday) and closing Nov (2nd Friday). The income test is gross monthly income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, plus a heating or cooling expense.

The Energy Assistance Program (EAP) helps low-income households meet their immediate home energy needs. EAP has four components: Fuel Assistance - Offsets heating fuel costs Crisis Assistance - Helps with heating emergencies Cooling Assistance - Helps with cooling bills and equipment Weatherization Assistance - Improves energy efficiency and reduces costs

Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Virginia Department of Social Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

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

Virginia winter shutoff questions

Can a utility shut off heat in winter in Virginia?

Virginia works off the forecast: the bar applies while the National Weather Service forecast is at or below 32F, and lapses when it is not. Virginia sets no calendar heating season moratorium; instead a statewide statute suspends nonpayment disconnections whenever the forecast low is at or below 32F in the next 24 hours, and a separate commission chapter gives households with a certified serious medical condition a 30 day delay.

Does Virginia have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

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

What can a household in Virginia already shut off do?

Who handles a winter disconnection dispute in Virginia?

Is there help with the heating bill in Virginia?

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

Virginia heating assistanceVirginia'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.

Virginia read September 23, 2026 from 56-245.1:3. Disconnection suspension for utilities, Code of Virginia (Virginia Law Portal, Virginia General Assembly), 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.