Can the electric company shut off your power if you have a child? In most states, yes, it can, but having a child in the home may trigger protections that delay or temporarily block the disconnection. No federal law stops a utility from cutting service for non-payment. The rules come from your state’s utility regulatory agency, and what’s available to a family with a young child varies quite a bit depending on where you live.
State Protections for Households With Young Children
Several states single out households with infants or young children for extra disconnection protections, particularly during colder months. Rhode Island prohibits disconnection for customers living with an infant under two years of age who are facing financial hardship. Wisconsin bars winter disconnections for households with infants in the home when income falls below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.1The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Disconnect Policies Connecticut goes further, providing year-round protection when a child under 24 months has been recently discharged from the hospital and a physician has indicated that utility service is necessary for the child’s health.
These protections are not automatic. You typically have to notify the utility and provide documentation of the child’s age and, in many cases, financial hardship. A birth certificate, hospital discharge papers, or a letter from the child’s pediatrician may be required. And the protections postpone disconnection; they do not erase the debt. You still owe the full balance, and once the protection period ends, the utility can resume collection if no payment arrangement is in place.
Winter and Summer Moratoriums
The most widely available seasonal protection is a winter moratorium, which blocks utilities from disconnecting heating service during the coldest months. A majority of states enforce some version of this rule, though dates and eligibility vary. Common windows run from November 1 through March 31, with some states starting as early as October 1 or extending into mid-April. A handful limit protection to low-income households, those receiving energy assistance, or homes with elderly, disabled, or very young residents.1The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Disconnect Policies
Summer heat protections are less common but growing. More than a dozen states prohibit disconnection when temperatures climb above a set threshold. Arizona utilities suspend residential disconnections from June 1 through October 15 or when temperatures exceed 95 degrees. New Jersey blocks shutoffs when the forecast hits 90°F.2The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Hot Weather Disconnect Policies For a household with a young child, extreme heat can be as dangerous as extreme cold, so it’s worth calling your utility or state regulatory agency to check.
Moratoriums pause disconnection. They do not freeze your bill. Charges keep accruing, and the full balance comes due when the moratorium lifts. Families who treat the moratorium as a grace period often face a large bill in the spring or fall with no plan to pay it.
Medical Necessity Certifications
If your child or anyone else in the household has a medical condition that makes utility service essential, a medical necessity certification can temporarily block a shutoff regardless of the season. It’s a formal statement from a licensed healthcare provider confirming that losing electricity, gas, or water would create a serious health risk for someone living in the home. It covers any permanent resident, not just the account holder.
Common qualifying situations include a child who depends on electrically powered medical equipment like a nebulizer, oxygen concentrator, or dialysis machine. It also covers conditions dangerously worsened by temperature extremes, where heating or cooling becomes a medical need. Both chronic conditions like asthma and temporary ones like pneumonia can qualify.
The certificate generally must include the patient’s name, the nature of the condition, and a statement from the provider explaining why continued service is medically necessary. The provider’s signature, license number, and contact information are also required. How long the protection lasts depends on your state. Thirty days is the most common duration, though some states allow 60 days, 90 days, or up to six months. Most states allow at least one renewal, and some permit multiple renewals within a 12-month period.1The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Disconnect Policies A few, like New Hampshire, allow indefinite renewal as long as the customer keeps up a payment plan.
The certification buys time, not forgiveness. Use the delay to set up a payment arrangement or apply for assistance. If the certificate expires and the balance hasn’t been addressed, you’re back where you started.
Notice You Should Receive Before a Shutoff
Before any disconnection, the utility has to send you written notice in advance. Most states require somewhere between 10 and 15 days of notice before the shutoff date, and the notice must identify the reason for disconnection, the amount owed, and the earliest date service may be cut. That notice period is your most valuable window to act.
Many states also restrict when a utility can actually turn off service. A common rule prohibits shutoffs on Fridays, weekends, state and federal holidays, and the day before a holiday, on the reasoning that a Friday-afternoon disconnection leaves a family with no way to reach the utility or assistance programs until Monday. Not every state enforces this, but enough do that it’s worth confirming with your local utility commission.
How to Stop a Shutoff Right Now
The moment you receive a shutoff notice, call the utility. Waiting until service is actually cut shrinks your options and adds costs. Ask about a deferred payment arrangement, sometimes called a DPA, which spreads the overdue balance across several months of installments added to your regular bill. Most utilities are required to offer some form of payment plan to residential customers who haven’t defaulted on one in the past 12 months.
If someone in the household has a qualifying medical condition, submit the completed medical certificate right away and follow up by phone to confirm the utility received it.
Energy Assistance Programs
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, is the largest federally funded program that helps eligible households pay energy bills. It can cover heating costs, cooling costs, and sometimes energy-related emergencies like a shutoff. Eligibility is based on household income, and the threshold varies by state but is commonly set around 150 percent of the federal poverty level or 60 percent of the state median income.3USAGov. Help with Energy Bills You apply through your local community action agency, not through the utility. Your state’s LIHEAP office or the federal energy assistance hotline at 1-866-674-6327 can point you to the right local agency.
Many states run their own supplemental programs on top of LIHEAP. Some also offer percentage-of-income payment plans that cap your monthly utility bill at a fixed share of household income, typically between 5 and 10 percent. These plans exist in at least a half-dozen states including Ohio, Colorado, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.4The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Overview of Percentage of Income Payment Plans If you qualify, a percentage-of-income plan can substantially reduce what you owe each month and, in some cases, forgive existing arrears after a sustained period of on-time payments.
Filing a Complaint
If the utility refuses to honor a valid medical certificate, denies a payment plan you believe you’re entitled to, or disconnects service without proper notice, you can file a complaint with your state’s Public Utility Commission. Every state has one, though names vary. A complaint puts the utility on notice that a regulator is watching, and in many cases the commission can order restoration or compliance while the complaint is investigated.
If the Power Is Already Off
Once the power is off, getting it back is harder and more expensive. You still have the right to invoke protections like a winter moratorium or a medical certificate to compel restoration, but the utility will typically require you to address at least part of the outstanding balance before restoring service.
On top of the overdue amount, expect a reconnection fee. These fees vary widely but commonly fall between $15 and $60, with some utilities charging more for after-hours or weekend reconnection. The utility may also require a new or increased security deposit, generally calculated as roughly two months of your average bill. Some states let you pay the deposit in installments spread over three to five months, but the reconnection fee is usually due up front.
A few states have stronger rules for vulnerable households. Some require the utility to restore service on the same day it receives a valid medical certificate, with reconnection fees waived. Others mandate restoration within 24 hours when a protected-status customer was disconnected without proper notice.1The LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Disconnect Policies Ask about these rules if your household includes a child with medical needs or if the disconnection happened during a moratorium period.
If You Rent and the Bill Is in the Landlord’s Name
If you rent and the utility account is in your landlord’s name, your power can be shut off because the landlord didn’t pay, not because of anything you did. Many states address this by requiring the utility to notify tenants separately before disconnecting service at a property with a master meter or a landlord-held account. In some states, tenants have the right to pay the utility directly to keep service running and deduct that amount from rent.
If you’re a renter with children and get a shutoff notice for an account you don’t control, contact both your landlord and your state’s utility commission right away. The legal framework varies, but regulators generally take a dim view of situations where a landlord’s neglect leaves a family without power.