Preventing a Utility Shutoff and Fixing a Bill: A Practical Guide

Summary. What to do today if the notice is on the counter, and what to do this week if the bill is wrong.

If there is a disconnection notice on your counter

Do these five things today, in this order. Every one of them is free.

1. Call the utility and ask for a deferred payment agreement. Say: "I received a disconnection notice for $______. I'd like to enter a deferred payment agreement over the longest term you offer." Utilities generally must offer one, and terms of 12 to 24 months are common. Be honest about what you can pay — a defaulted agreement can preclude a second one.

2. Ask about the medical certificate. If anyone in the household uses medical equipment, takes refrigerated medication, or has a condition made dangerous by extreme temperature, ask for the form. A provider can complete it the same day, and it postpones disconnection for 30 to 90 days. This is the most powerful protection in utility law and the least used.

3. Apply for energy assistance and tell the utility, in writing. In many states a pending assistance application independently bars disconnection. Apply through your community action agency — see step 5.

4. Ask for these three programs by name, because they are almost never volunteered:

• "Does the company have an arrearage forgiveness program?"
• "Is there a percentage-of-income payment plan?"
• "Is there a hardship fund, and how do I apply?"
• And: "Am I on the low-income rate? Can you check whether I'm eligible?"

5. Call your county's community action agency, or 211. One call reaches LIHEAP, crisis grants, weatherization, and the utility's hardship fund. Say "I have a disconnection notice" at the start — that opens the expedited crisis door.

And if none of it works: file an informal complaint with your state's public utility commission today. It is free, takes twenty minutes, and service is generally protected while the complaint is pending.

Part one: understanding the notice

What must have happened before it

Most jurisdictions require a sequence, and most improper shutoffs are failures of the sequence rather than disputes about the money.

• The bill became past due after a grace period
• A written disconnection notice, separate from the bill, was issued stating the amount, the earliest disconnection date, how to avoid it, and how to dispute or seek help
• A notice period elapsed — commonly 10 to 30 days
• In many states, a second contact attempt before a crew arrives
• Disconnection only during specified hours, and typically not on a Friday, weekend, holiday, or the day before one

Check the notice against that list. A notice missing required content, sent to the wrong address, or acted on too soon or on the wrong day is a reversible shutoff, and the reversal is free.

Where the rules are

The tariff — the utility's rulebook, filed with and approved by the commission. It is public, it is on the utility's website or the commission's, and it answers nearly every question here.

The sections to read: discontinuance of service · disputed bills · deposits · billing and back billing · meter testing · special rate schedules.

Cite it by number when you call. "Section 4.3 provides that service will not be discontinued for a disputed amount while a dispute is pending." That sentence does more than ten phone calls.

One critical check first: is your utility regulated by the state commission? Investor-owned utilities are. Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives frequently are not — a city water department answers to the city council, a co-op to its member-elected board. The protections may be similar; the complaint route is entirely different.

Part two: the medical certificate

Because it is the single most effective thing in this guide and takes an afternoon.

What it is. A licensed medical professional certifies that loss of utility service would be dangerous to the health of a household member. The utility must postpone disconnection.

Who qualifies — broader than people assume:

• Anyone using powered medical equipment: oxygen concentrator, CPAP or BiPAP, nebulizer, ventilator, home dialysis, powered wheelchair, feeding pump, infusion pump
• Anyone with refrigerated medication — insulin among many others
• Anyone with a condition where extreme heat or cold is dangerous — cardiac and respiratory conditions, multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders, conditions affecting thermoregulation
• Frequently: infants, and residents over a specified age
• Frequently: serious illness generally, on a provider's judgment

How to get one, today:

1. Call the utility and ask for the medical certificate form — they will email or fax it
2. Call the provider's office, ask for the nurse or the medical records line, and say: "I need a utility medical certificate completed today to prevent a disconnection." This is routine for them.
3. Have it faxed directly to the utility, and get confirmation of receipt
4. Ask what the postponement period is and whether it is renewable
5. Expect to be asked to enter a payment agreement at the same time. Do it.

Keep a copy, and calendar the expiration date. Renewals must be requested; they are not automatic.

Part three: payment arrangements

Deferred payment agreement. Arrears spread over months, added to current usage. Ask for the longest term available. Ask what happens if you miss one payment — and if the answer is that the whole agreement voids, negotiate a payment you can certainly make rather than the largest you might.

Budget or levelized billing. The annual cost divided into twelve equal payments with a true-up. It does not reduce cost; it eliminates the seasonal spike that causes most arrears. It is free, and it prevents more shutoffs than any assistance program. Enroll even if you are not in trouble.

Percentage-of-income payment plans. Some states cap eligible customers' bills at a percentage of household income, with the balance subsidized. Transformative where they exist and substantially underenrolled. Ask by name.

Arrearage forgiveness. Many utilities forgive a portion of past-due balance for each on-time payment — often one-twelfth or one-twenty-fourth per month. Ask by name. It is rarely offered.

Crisis grants. One-time assistance for a shutoff or a shutoff notice, through LIHEAP crisis components, community action agencies, and utility hardship funds.

And a deposit you may be owed. A deposit posted when you opened service is generally refundable or creditable after a period of good payment history, frequently with interest. Ask. Almost nobody does, and it is rarely returned automatically.

Part four: when the bill is wrong

The first question

"How many of my last twelve readings were estimated?"

This one question explains most shocking bills. When a meter is not read, the utility estimates. A run of low estimates followed by an actual reading produces a catch-up bill that looks like a rate increase or a leak and is neither.

If most of your reads were estimated, the debt is real but your remedies are procedural: most tariffs limit back billing to 6 to 24 months and require an extended payment period for a catch-up caused by the utility's failure to read the meter.

The other causes

• Meter error. Meters fail. Request a meter test — usually free the first time, or refundable if the meter is outside tolerance.
• Wrong meter. In multi-unit buildings, meters are mislabeled with real frequency, and customers pay a neighbor's usage for years.
• Rate class error. A residence billed commercial, or a better rate not applied.
• A leak. On your side, or on the utility's side of the meter — the second is theirs. Ask for a leak adjustment policy, which most water utilities have and rarely mention.
• A failing appliance. A stuck water heater element, a well pump cycling continuously, a refrigerator failing. Ask for interval usage data from an advanced meter — it shows the hour-by-hour pattern and identifies these precisely.
• A third-party supplier. In retail-choice states, check the supply portion of the bill. A teaser rate that reset to a high variable rate is one of the largest sources of unnecessary cost in this field, and returning to default utility supply is generally free and takes one call.

How to dispute, correctly

1. Dispute in writing before the due date, and use the word dispute. This is what activates the protection against disconnection over the disputed amount.
2. Pay the undisputed portion. Withholding everything risks disconnection on the part you do owe.
3. Request the account history — 24 months, with actual versus estimated reads flagged.
4. Request a meter test, and ask what the tolerance is and what the rebilling adjustment would be.
5. Ask for the tariff provision the utility relies on. Sometimes there is not one.
6. Escalate inside the utility — supervisor, then the formal disputes or investigations unit.
7. Then file with the commission.

Part five: the commission complaint

This is the most effective consumer remedy in this guide and almost nobody uses it.

Informal complaint. Free, online or by phone, no lawyer. A staff member contacts the utility, which must respond within a defined period. Service is generally protected while it is pending. Most complaints resolve here, frequently in days — because a utility would rather fix a $400 problem than explain it to its regulator.

What to include:

• Account number and service address
• A dated chronology of what happened
• What you asked the utility for and exactly what they said — with names and dates
• The tariff provision you believe was violated, if you found it
• Copies of bills, the notice, and your written dispute
• A specific request: restore service · correct the bill · waive the fee · a payment agreement over N months

Formal complaint, if the informal process fails: pleadings, evidence, a decision by the commission or an ALJ, appealable to state court.

If your utility is municipal or a cooperative, the commission has no jurisdiction. Go to: the city council or utility board (and note that a municipal utility, as a government actor, owes due process before terminating essential service) · the cooperative's board and member meeting · the mayor · the state attorney general's consumer division.

Part six: the assistance nobody claims

Make one call: your county's community action agency. Every county has one. They are free, and one call reaches:

• LIHEAP — heating, cooling, and crisis assistance. Income limits are frequently higher than people assume. Apply early in the season; funds run out.
• Weatherization — free permanent energy improvements: insulation, air sealing, heating repair or replacement. Renters qualify with landlord consent; manufactured homes are specifically served.
• Local crisis funds — county, faith-based, community
• The utility's hardship fund
• Percentage-of-income and arrearage programs, where the state has them
• Referrals to everything else the household qualifies for

Call 211 if you cannot find your agency.

Have ready: the utility account number · the disconnection notice · proof of income for everyone in the household · photo ID · proof of address · Social Security numbers.

And say the words "I have a disconnection notice" at the beginning — that opens the expedited crisis processing, measured in days rather than weeks.

Also: Lifeline provides a monthly discount on phone or broadband for eligible households, and enrollment is a fraction of eligibility.

Part seven: landlords and tenants

If the account is in your name, you have all the rights in this guide.

If it is in the landlord's name and they stop paying, many states protect you: notice to occupants before disconnection, a right to put the account in your own name and deduct payments from rent, and a prohibition on disconnection for a period. Call the utility and ask what your state allows.

If the landlord deliberately cut off your utilities, that is an unlawful self-help eviction in essentially every state — one of the clearest violations in landlord-tenant law, with statutory damages in many places.

Do this the same day:

1. Photograph and document the interruption, with the date
2. Call the utility and ask about putting the account in your name
3. Call code enforcement or the housing agency — loss of essential service is a habitability violation with its own enforcement track
4. Call legal aid — this is fast to remedy and they take these
5. Document your damages — spoiled food, hotel, lost wages, alternative heat

On submetering: where a landlord bills you for utilities by submeter or formula, state rules typically govern the method, prohibit charging more than the utility's rate, and require disclosure of the calculation. Ask for the calculation in writing. Improper allocation is common and refundable.

When you move in: confirm no prior tenant's balance is on your account. A utility generally may not condition new service on payment of a prior tenant's debt.

Part eight: reducing the bill

Arrangements manage a bill; they do not lower it. Most of what lowers it is free.

• A free energy audit. Nearly every regulated utility offers one, frequently with free direct-install measures on the spot — bulbs, aerators, pipe insulation, a smart thermostat, air sealing.
• Weatherization assistance — the largest free intervention available for income-eligible households, including renters and manufactured homes.
• Rebates and tax credits for heat pumps, water heaters, insulation, and appliances. These frequently stack — ask whether they can be combined with weatherization.
• Rate optimization. Ask which rate you are on and whether another is better. Time-of-use, all-electric, and medical equipment rates are rarely applied automatically.
• Check your supplier, in retail-choice states.
• The unglamorous list, which is where the savings actually are: water heater at 120°F · filters changed · duct leaks sealed · dryer vent cleared · refrigerator coils cleaned · gaps sealed · the thermostat actually programmed · and, in an older house, attic insulation.
• Interval usage data, if the bill is high and nobody can say why. It identifies a failing appliance or a leak with a precision guessing never achieves.

Part nine: four households

Ninety minutes

Rosalind Achebe-Ferraro had a disconnection notice for $1,180 and a husband on an oxygen concentrator sixteen hours a day.

Tuesday morning: she called the utility, asked for the medical certificate form, and they emailed it. She called the pulmonologist's office and asked for the nurse: "I need a utility medical certificate completed today to prevent a disconnection." It was faxed back in ninety minutes. This is routine for medical offices.

In the same utility call, she asked for a deferred payment agreement — twenty-four months at $49 plus current usage — because most states pair the certificate with a payment arrangement requirement.

Tuesday afternoon: she applied for LIHEAP through the community action agency and told the utility in writing that an application was pending, which independently barred disconnection in her state.

Later, having learned it existed, she asked by name about arrearage forgiveness. The utility forgave one twenty-fourth of the remaining balance for each on-time payment.

Service was never interrupted, and every step was free.

Eleven of twelve

Fitzgerald Nakamura-Delacroix's gas bill went from about $70 to $860 in February. He assumed a rate hike.

He asked: "How many of my last twelve readings were estimated?"

Eleven. The access gate had been locked for a year. The estimates had been low. February was the true-up.

The debt was real; the remedies were procedural. His tariff limited back billing to twelve months and required an extended payment period for a catch-up caused by the utility's failure to read. He paid it over twelve months, enrolled in budget billing so the seasonal swing would never do this again, and fixed the meter access.

One question reframed the entire problem.

Twenty minutes

Perpetua Ilunga-Whitfield's water was cut off on a Friday afternoon over $340 she had disputed in writing nine days earlier, with no response.

Two violations on the face of it: her state barred disconnection over a disputed amount while a dispute was pending, and barred Friday disconnections because a customer cannot reach anyone over a weekend.

She filed an informal complaint online with the commission's consumer division. It asked for the account number, the service address, a chronology, what she had asked for and what she was told, and the relief sought. Twenty minutes.

Service restored Saturday morning. Reconnection fee waived. The disputed charge reduced by $210 — it was a leak on the utility's side of the meter.

The meter the landlord pulled

Cassius Beauvais-Osei fell behind on rent, and his landlord had the building's electric service disconnected — the account was in the landlord's name.

Unlawful self-help eviction in essentially every state.

In one afternoon he photographed and documented the interruption; called the utility and learned his state let a tenant place the account in their own name and deduct payments from rent when a landlord fails to pay; called code enforcement, because loss of essential service is a habitability violation with its own track; called legal aid, which sent a letter that day; and documented his damages — spoiled food, a hotel night, lost wages.

Service restored in two days. When the landlord later filed for eviction, the statutory damages available for unlawful self-help exceeded the rent arrears.

Part ten: a calendar

The day the notice arrives

• Read it against the tariff: content · notice period · earliest date · permitted days and hours
• Call the utility: deferred payment agreement, longest term
• Ask about the medical certificate; get the form
• Ask by name: arrearage forgiveness · percentage-of-income plan · hardship fund · low-income rate
• Call the community action agency or 211; say "I have a disconnection notice"

Within 48 hours

• Medical certificate completed by a provider and faxed to the utility, with confirmation of receipt
• Assistance application submitted; tell the utility in writing
• Payment agreement signed, at an amount you will certainly make
• If nothing has worked: file the informal commission complaint

When a bill looks wrong

• Ask how many of the last twelve reads were estimated
• Request the 24-month account history with actual vs. estimated flagged
• Dispute in writing before the due date, using the word dispute
• Pay the undisputed portion
• Request a meter test
• Ask which tariff provision they rely on

Every year

• Enroll or re-enroll in budget billing
• Apply for LIHEAP early in the season
• Apply for weatherization — the waitlist is long and the benefit is permanent
• Ask whether your deposit is now refundable
• Confirm which rate you are on and whether a better one exists
• In a retail-choice state, check your supplier and rate
• Request a free energy audit
• Renew the medical certificate if one is in place — renewals are not automatic

Part eleven: the mistakes that cost the most

Not opening the notice. The deadline is in the first paragraph and every protection runs from it.

Not asking for the medical certificate. The most powerful protection in this field, available in an afternoon, and almost nobody uses it.

Disputing verbally. The protection against disconnection over a disputed amount generally requires a written dispute.

Withholding the whole bill. Pay the undisputed portion or you invite disconnection on the part you owe.

Not asking about programs by name. Arrearage forgiveness, percentage-of-income plans, and hardship funds are rarely volunteered.

Assuming a shocking bill is a rate increase. Ask about estimated reads first.

Agreeing to a payment plan you cannot make. A defaulted agreement can preclude a second one.

Never claiming the deposit. It is refundable after good payment history and is rarely returned automatically.

Not applying for LIHEAP early. Funds are finite and states exhaust them.

Skipping weatherization because of the waitlist. The benefit is permanent and the application costs nothing.

Not filing the commission complaint. Free, twenty minutes, protects service, resolves most complaints in days — and almost nobody knows it exists.

Assuming the commission has jurisdiction. Municipal utilities and cooperatives frequently are not regulated by it. Check first, then go to the council or the board.

Paying a landlord's submetered bill without asking how it was calculated. Improper allocation is common and refundable.

Treating a landlord shutoff as a utility problem. It is an eviction problem, it is unlawful, and the remedies are fast.

Part twelve: by service, because each one differs

Electric

• Moratoria increasingly cover heat as well as cold
• Medical equipment supports both a certificate and, in many states, a special rate or usage allowance — ask
• Advanced meters give interval data. Ask for it when a bill is unexplained; it identifies the hour and the appliance.
• Time-of-use rates help or hurt substantially depending on when you use power
• Retail choice states: look at the supply portion of the bill. A teaser rate that reset to a high variable rate is one of the largest avoidable costs in this field. Returning to default utility supply is generally free and takes one call.

Natural gas

• Winter moratoria are most common here
• A safety shutoff — a leak, a failed inspection, a red-tagged appliance — is not a nonpayment shutoff and is not subject to the same protections. Fix the safety issue; the money is a separate conversation.
• Furnace repair or replacement is frequently covered by weatherization and by utility efficiency programs
• Budget billing matters most here, because the seasonal swing is the largest

Water and sewer

• Frequently municipal, so the commission has no jurisdiction — the route is the city council, and a municipality owes due process before terminating essential service
• A customer-side leak produces enormous bills. Most utilities have a leak adjustment policy forgiving part of a bill caused by a documented and repaired leak. Ask for it by name.
• Water liens. In some jurisdictions unpaid water charges become a lien on the property and can, in extreme cases, lead to a tax-style sale. The most severe consequence in this field, and not widely known.
• Loss of water in an occupied dwelling triggers health department and habitability attention quickly, which is leverage

Phone and broadband

• Lifeline discounts for eligible households; enrollment is a fraction of eligibility
• Bundles mean nonpayment of one service can end all three — ask whether services can be separated
• Most disputes here are early termination fees, equipment charges, and promotional rates expiring. Ask for the rate history and the promotion's end date.

Propane and heating oil

• Usually unregulated — a competitive market, which means most protections in this guide do not apply
• Shop the price. It varies enormously between suppliers in the same area.
• Read the contract: will-call vs. automatic delivery · minimum purchase · tank rental · the fee to switch suppliers
• Who owns the tank determines whether you can switch at all
• LIHEAP covers deliverable fuels in most states, frequently with a crisis component for an empty tank in winter

Part thirteen: what to say, written out

Asking for a payment agreement: "I received a disconnection notice for $______. I'd like to enter a deferred payment agreement over the longest term you offer. What is that term, and what happens if I miss a payment?"

Asking for the medical certificate: "Someone in my household uses [oxygen / a CPAP / refrigerated medication] and losing service would be dangerous. Could you send me the medical certificate form and tell me what the postponement period is and whether it's renewable?"

To the doctor's office: "I need a utility medical certificate completed today to prevent a disconnection. Can I fax or email you the form? The utility needs it faxed back to [number]."

Asking about programs — the sentence that finds money: "Does the company have an arrearage forgiveness program, a percentage-of-income payment plan, or a hardship fund? And could you check whether I'm eligible for the low-income rate?"

Protecting the account while assistance is pending: "I applied for LIHEAP on [date] through [agency]. I'm confirming in writing that an application is pending. Please note the account and confirm that disconnection is stayed while it's under review."

Disputing a bill: "I'm disputing the bill dated [date] in the amount of $. I'm paying the undisputed portion of $ today. Please confirm in writing that service will not be discontinued over the disputed amount while the dispute is pending, and send me the account history for the past 24 months showing which readings were actual and which were estimated."

The one question about a shocking bill: "How many of my last twelve readings were estimated?"

Requesting a meter test: "I'd like a meter test. Is the first one free? What's the accuracy tolerance, and what's the rebilling adjustment if the meter tests outside it?"

About back billing: "This bill covers [period]. What does your tariff say about how far back the company may bill for an undercharge, and what payment terms are required for a catch-up bill?"

About a leak: "I had a leak that was repaired on [date] — here's the plumber's invoice. Does the company have a leak adjustment policy, and how do I apply?"

About a deposit: "I posted a deposit of $______ on [date]. Under your tariff, when does it become refundable, and does it accrue interest? Please credit it if I'm eligible."

Filing the commission complaint: "I'd like to file an informal complaint. Account [number], service address [address]. Here's what happened, with dates. I asked the utility for [X] on [date] and was told [Y]. I'm asking for [restoration / a corrected bill / a payment agreement over N months / waiver of the reconnection fee]."

To a landlord who cut off service: "Utilities to my unit were disconnected on [date]. Interrupting essential services to a tenant is an unlawful self-help eviction under [state] law. I'm requesting immediate restoration. I've documented the interruption and my damages, and I've contacted code enforcement and legal aid."

To the community action agency: "I have a disconnection notice. I need to apply for LIHEAP crisis assistance. What do I need to bring, and how quickly can this be processed?"

Part fourteen: if the service is already off

The situation feels final and generally is not. Work through this in order.

1. Call and ask exactly what is required to restore. Not what the balance is — what is required to restore. Utilities frequently reconnect on a partial payment plus an agreement, and the two numbers are very different.

2. Ask whether the disconnection followed the tariff. Was the notice separate from the bill? Did it contain the required content? Was the notice period observed? Was it a permitted day and hour? Was a dispute or an assistance application pending? If any answer is no, restoration should be immediate and the fee waived.

3. Use the medical certificate. A certificate obtained after a disconnection frequently produces same-day restoration in states where it applies, and it costs a phone call to a doctor's office.

4. Ask about the reconnection fee. It is capped by tariff. Ask what the cap is, whether it can be deferred to a later bill rather than paid now, and whether it is waived where the disconnection was improper.

5. Ask about after-hours reconnection. Many utilities reconnect the same day if the payment clears before a cutoff time. Ask what that time is.

6. Call the community action agency, say service is already off, and ask about crisis assistance — that is precisely what it exists for, and processing is expedited.

7. File the informal commission complaint. Restoration in hours is a routine outcome when the disconnection was procedurally defective.

8. Protect what is perishable. Move refrigerated medication somewhere cold. A pharmacy will frequently hold insulin. Move food to a neighbor's. Document what spoiled, with photographs — it is compensable if the disconnection was improper.

9. If anyone in the household is medically vulnerable and it is hot or cold, this is a safety emergency, not a billing dispute. Cooling and warming centers exist; 211 knows where. Say so to everyone you call.

10. Get everything in writing — what you were told, by whom, and when. If restoration is delayed or the fee is not waived, that record is your complaint.

Part fifteen: the account that went to collections

When a utility account is closed with a balance, it is frequently sold or referred to a collection agency — and at that point it becomes ordinary consumer debt, with all the defenses that come with it.

The thirty-day window. Within thirty days of the collector's first written notice, dispute in writing and demand validation. A timely written dispute obligates the collector to cease collection until it obtains and mails verification. For old utility accounts, this frequently produces nothing at all, because the documentation was never transferred.

Ask for: an itemized statement · the name and address of the original utility · proof of assignment or purchase · a complete accounting including payments, credits, deposits applied, and fees · the date of first delinquency · the service address and dates of service.

Check the service address and dates. Utility collection errors cluster around prior tenants, prior owners, and similar names. A balance for an address you did not occupy on dates you did not live there is not your debt, and the validation response is where that becomes visible.

Check the statute of limitations. Utility debt is subject to your state's limitations period, and a partial payment or written acknowledgment revives the clock in many states. Do not pay anything on an old utility balance until you know the date of first delinquency and your state's rule.

Check the deposit. A deposit posted at the start of service should have been applied to the final bill. It frequently was not.

Check whether the balance is being used to block new service. A utility generally may not condition new service on payment of a prior tenant's or prior owner's debt — and where the debt is genuinely yours, many tariffs require the utility to offer a payment arrangement rather than refusal of service, particularly where the household includes a vulnerable member. Ask, and ask which tariff provision applies.

And if you are sued: answer the case. The mechanics are the same as any consumer debt collection suit — the plaintiff must prove the debt, the amount, and, if it is an assignee, the chain of assignment. Utility portfolio purchasers frequently cannot.

Part sixteen: who to call, and in what order

Utility problems get routed to the wrong place constantly, and the wrong call costs days a household in trouble does not have.

The order that works when a shutoff is imminent: utility (payment agreement + medical certificate) → community action agency (assistance, and tell the utility in writing that an application is pending) → commission informal complaint. All three in one day, all three free.

And confirm one thing before anything else: is your utility regulated by the state commission? Investor-owned utilities are. Municipal utilities and rural cooperatives frequently are not, and everything about the escalation path changes with that answer.

Frequently asked questions

They're shutting off tomorrow. Payment agreement · medical certificate · apply for assistance and tell them in writing · then file the commission complaint today. Service is generally protected while a complaint is pending.

Can they shut off in winter? Most states have a moratorium, but the terms vary — automatic in some, conditioned on an application or a payment agreement in others, income-tested in others. Find your state's version.

What if it's already off? Ask what is required to restore — it is often less than the full balance. Check whether the disconnection followed the tariff. Use the medical certificate. File the complaint.

My bill tripled. Ask how many of the last twelve reads were estimated. Then request a meter test and the account history.

Can they bill me for two years ago? Most tariffs limit back billing, and require an extended payment period for a utility-caused catch-up. Ask for the limitation.

Do I get my deposit back? Generally yes, after good payment history, frequently with interest. Ask.

My landlord shut off the power. Unlawful self-help eviction. Document, call the utility, code enforcement, and legal aid the same day.

Is the commission complaint worth it? Free, twenty minutes, protects service, resolves most complaints in days. Yes.

Related documents

• Utility Service: Shutoffs, Billing Disputes, and Assistance Programs
• Utility Shutoff and Billing Dispute Checklist
• Utility Dispute Toolkit
• Handling a Landlord-Tenant Dispute
• Applying for and Keeping Subsidized Housing
• Buying and Living in a Manufactured Home
• Defending a Debt Collection Lawsuit

Educational only, not legal advice. Disconnection rules, moratoria, medical certificate procedures, and assistance eligibility vary by state and utility. Municipal utilities and cooperatives are frequently outside commission jurisdiction.