Wyoming Winter Utility Shutoff Rules

Q: Does Wyoming 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. Wyoming Public Service Commission, Public Service Commission Rules, Chapter 3, Section 9(d) and 9(j)(x) is the rule behind it.

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

Wyoming runs Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) through Wyoming Department of Family Services, with applications opening Oct 1. The heating assistance page for Wyoming covers the income test and the front door.

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 Wyoming requires of a utility in winter

Temperature trigger

At or below 32F

Wyoming sets no winter calendar moratorium; instead a regulated utility may not disconnect a residential customer for nonpayment whenever the forecast is below 32F in the next 48 hours, and between November 1 and April 30 it must make actual contact with the customer before disconnecting.

What switches it on: Wyoming 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, gas, water and pipeline
Who it reaches: The rule binds the utilities Wyoming Public Service 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 Wyoming Public Service Commission speaking through its own rule, and the sentence below is the one the summary above was built from. The citation is Wyoming Public Service Commission, Public Service Commission Rules, Chapter 3, Section 9(d) and 9(j)(x).

The utility shall not discontinue service for bill nonpayment: ... If the temperature is forecasted by the National Weather Service or other reputable source to be below 32° F in the impending 48 hours, or if conditions are otherwise especially dangerous to health, and the customer is: (A) A residential customer;

Public Service Commission Rules, Chapter 3: Electric, Gas, Water and Pipeline Utilities, Wyoming Administrative Rules, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Already off, or a notice has come

Who to call in Wyoming today

The utility may require payment in full of all bills due through the disconnection date plus any tariff reconnection charge, and must then restore service as soon as practicable; it may charge nothing to reconnect when the disconnection was improper, and a household facing disconnection can get 15 extra days by giving the utility written verification from a health care provider that health or safety would be seriously endangered.

Who takes the complaint: Wyoming Public Service Commission

Wyoming Public Service Commission, how to file

Upon satisfaction of reconnection requirements, the utility shall restore service as soon as practicable. If a customer requests reconnection of service after hours, the utility shall inform the customer of any additional charge per tariff for after-hours expenses prior to the reconnection. No utility shall charge to reconnect service when discontinuation was improper.

Wyoming Public Service 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 Wyoming rule cover your utility

The rule binds the utilities Wyoming Public Service 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 Wyoming answer to their own board or their own city council on this, not to Wyoming Public Service 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, gas, water and pipeline service.

Help with the bill

Wyoming pays part of the heating bill through Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP)

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. Wyoming Department of Family Services runs it, opening October 1 and closing April 30. The income test is Total household income at or below 60 percent of the Wyoming state median, for homeowners, renters and people living in permanently parked RVs..

The Wyoming Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) is a federally funded program that helps eligible residents cover a portion of their monthly winter heating bills, receive help with heating emergencies, and improve their home's energy efficiency.

Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP), Wyoming Department of Family Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

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

Wyoming winter shutoff questions

Can a utility shut off heat in winter in Wyoming?

Wyoming works off the forecast: the bar applies while the National Weather Service forecast is at or below 32F, and lapses when it is not. Wyoming sets no winter calendar moratorium; instead a regulated utility may not disconnect a residential customer for nonpayment whenever the forecast is below 32F in the next 48 hours, and between November 1 and April 30 it must make actual contact with the customer before disconnecting.

Does Wyoming have a winter shutoff moratorium with dates?

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

What can a household in Wyoming already shut off do?

The utility may require payment in full of all bills due through the disconnection date plus any tariff reconnection charge, and must then restore service as soon as practicable; it may charge nothing to reconnect when the disconnection was improper, and a household facing disconnection can get 15 extra days by giving the utility written verification from a health care provider that health or safety would be seriously endangered. Wyoming Public Service Commission publishes the path.

Who handles a winter disconnection dispute in Wyoming?

Wyoming Public Service Commission takes consumer complaints about regulated utilities. Its own words: "After receiving a complaint, the WPSC will require a response to the complaint from the utility. When the response from the utility is received, the WPSC will contact the complainant with the information in the utility response. The WPSC will continue to work with the complainant until the issue is resolved, or understood. This is the informal complaint process."

Is there help with the heating bill in Wyoming?

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

Wyoming heating assistanceWyoming'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.

Wyoming read September 23, 2026 from Public Service Commission Rules, Chapter 3: Electric, Gas, Water and Pipeline Utilities, Wyoming Administrative Rules, 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.