Utility Shut Off

Repayment arrangements

First, contact the utility company.

They must give you an opportunity to try to work out a repayment arrangement.

The NH Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulates electricity companies, other than municipal electricity companies, and natural gas utility companies. If one of these utilities wants to shut off your service, they must follow certain regulations. In general, the utility must mail you a notice at least 14 days before the date they are proposing to shut off your service including information on how you may get reconnected. (This does not apply if you have already entered into a payment arrangement and you missed a payment. However, utility companies must send a new written notice if the delivery of any previous disconnection notice was more than 45 days prior to the proposed disconnection date.) If you fail to respond to the notice, the utility company can shut off your service on the proposed date of shut off or on any of the following eight business days.

The following are certain instances when the utility company is not allowed to shut off your service:

1. Holidays, the day before a holiday, before 8 a.m. or after 3:30 p.m., days when the PUC is closed, or on a day before the PUC is closed (e.g., Fridays);
2. If your bill is less than 60 days late and your bill is less than $100;
3. If your local welfare office guarantees payment of your average monthly utility bills, and you make arrangements to pay the arrearages;
4. If you have worked out a payment arrangement, and you are making the promised payments on time;
5. If a utility has failed to send you written confirmation of a payment agreement;
6. If a utility worker comes to your house to shut off your service, and you give the worker the entire past due amount;
7. If the bill is in the name of a third party who did not reside with you at the time the bill was incurred or who does not currently reside with you;
8. If a utility worker fails to contact an adult occupant of the home either in person or by phone prior to disconnecting service in the winter.

Winter months

Special rules apply for overdue bills that were incurred for electric and gas service during the winter months (which includes November 15^th through March 31^st). An electric bill for heat must be more than $450 before your electricity can be shut off. A gas bill for heat must be over $450 before your gas can be shut off. Non-heating gas bills must be at least $125 and non-heating electric bills must be at least $225 before either can be shut off for winter service. The PUC will not approve disconnections during winter months where financial hardship exists and the customer made a good faith effort to make payments. A financial hardship exists when a residential customer has provided the utility with evidence of current enrollment in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Electric Assistance Program, their successor programs, or any other federal, state, or local government program or government-funded program of any social service agency which provides financial assistance or subsidy assistance for low-income households. In addition, if you are over 65 years old the utility must get permission from the PUC, and follow specific rules, to shut off your utilities during the winter season.

Medical emergency

If your physician, registered nurse, physician’s assistant, or mental health practitioner notifies the utility that shutting off your service would cause a medical emergency (including mental health), your service may not be shut off. Oral notification from your physician, registered nurse, physician’s assistant, or mental health provider of the existence of a physical or mental health condition is sufficient.

In order for this to be effective, you must also contact the utility company and work out a payment arrangement. A medical emergency certification is valid for the period of time designated by your physician, registered nurse, physician’s assistant, or mental health practitioner, provided the certification is for at least ninety days and no more than one year. Your physician, registered nurse, physician’s assistant, or mental health practitioner may be required to renew the notice of a potential medical emergency every sixty days (or longer depending on the utility company). Payment arrangements where a medical emergency may result are generally more flexible than arrangements in non-medical emergency cases, but still must address paying the overdue bills in addition to the current bills.

The PUC will not approve disconnections to customers with a current medical emergency certification if the customer has made a good-faith effort to make payments. Furthermore, the utility must send a reminder notice to the customer thirty days prior to the expiration of the medical emergency certification that advises the customer to renew the certification if a medical emergency still exists.

Conference with the utility

If you cannot work out a payment arrangement, you can request a conference with the utility company prior to the proposed disconnect date. In deciding the reasonableness of a payment arrangement, there are a number of considerations that the customer and utility must regard, including the arrearage’s size, estimated size of future monthly bills, the customer’s payment history, amount of time that the arrearage has been outstanding and the reasons why it has been outstanding, and the customer’s ability to pay. If you do not agree with the final decision by the utility company, the next step is to appeal the decision to the NH Public Utilities Commission. You must do this either in writing or by phone within 5 days of the utility company’s final decision. You can contact the Public Utilities Commission at 1-800-852-3793. As long as the Public Utilities Commission is looking at your case, the utility company should not shut off your service.

Assistance Programs

You may also be eligible for funds through the NH Fuel Assistance Program or your town/city welfare department.

If you have questions about the Gas Residential Low Income Assistance Program, you can contact your natural gas utility. You may be required to verify your income.

Gas Residential Low Income Assistance Program
https://www.energy.nh.gov/consumers/help-energy-and-utility-bills/gas-assistance-program

If you have concerns that your utilities are being improperly disconnected or you are unable to work out a payment arrangement with the utility company, contact the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission or New Hampshire Legal Assistance at:

Public Utilities Commission (603) 271-2431
21 South Fruit Street, Suite 10
Concord, NH 03301-2429
https://www.puc.nh.gov/

or

New Hampshire Legal Assistance 1-888-353-9944

or

https://www.nhla.org/

If you are having difficulty paying your heating bills, you might try to negotiate payment terms with your heating company or contact the Fuel Assistance Administration.

Fuel Assistance Administration (603) 271-2155
Governor’s Office of Energy and Planning
https://www.energy.nh.gov/consumers/help-energy-and-utility-bills/fuel-assistance-program

If you are having difficulty paying your electric bills, you might try to negotiate payment terms with your electric company or contact the Electric Assistance Program.

Electric Assistance Program
Governor’s Office of Energy and Planning
https://www.energy.nh.gov/consumers/help-energy-and-utility-bills/electric-assistance-program

You might also consider the Governor’s Weatherization Assistance Program, which takes measures to improve the energy efficiency of your home and, thus, reduce energy use and costs.

Weatherization Assistance Program
Governor’s Office of Energy and Planning
https://www.energy.nh.gov/consumers/help-energy-and-utility-bills/weatherization-assistance-program

For more information, please see:

• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. Ch. 363-B:1 – Termination of Service
• N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 1200, et. seq. – Uniform Administration of Utility Customer Relations (Note: these rules do not apply to sewer or telephone utilities. See N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 703 for Sewer and N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 403 for Telephone.)
• N.H. Code of Admin Rules Puc 1203.07 – Payment Arrangements
• N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 1203.11 – Disconnection of Service
• N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 1203.16 – Disconnection Conferences
• N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 1204 – Winter Rules
• N.H. Code of Admin. Rules Puc 1205 – Medical Emergency Rule