Georgia Electricity Shut-Off Laws: Notice, Weather, and Reconnection

In Georgia, your electric utility cannot disconnect residential service until a bill has gone unpaid for at least 45 days, and even then the company must give you five days’ written notice before cutting power. Georgia electricity shut-off laws, set by the Public Service Commission (PSC), also block disconnection during dangerous cold or heat, pause it when a household member has a serious illness, and stop it while a legitimate bill dispute is under review.¹

When Your Electricity Can Be Shut Off

PSC Rule 515-3-2-.01 limits the reasons a utility can disconnect residential electric service. Only five reasons qualify:²

Your bill for service at your current address has been unpaid at least 45 days after the billing date. The debt cannot be for a previous occupant, for merchandise or appliances, or for service at a different meter that’s been unpaid for less than 45 days.
Continued service creates an immediate danger to people or property.
You ask the utility to disconnect.
The PSC, a court, or another authorized agency orders disconnection.
You’ve violated utility rules that the PSC has approved and that are on file.

The 45-day figure is a floor, not a suggestion. A utility that tries to disconnect sooner is violating PSC rules. Many customers assume shutoff can happen the moment a due date passes; it can’t.

The Five-Day Written Notice

Once a bill has been unpaid long enough to qualify for disconnection, the utility still has to deliver written notice at least five days before the scheduled shutoff. That notice goes to your service address or to anyone the utility knows has agreed to pay the bill, and it must include:¹

The earliest date the utility plans to disconnect
The amount you owe and the reason for the proposed disconnection
A phone number to call for more information
Instructions for preventing disconnection, including the medical emergency process
Information about any payment-assistance programs the utility knows of

The disconnection itself can only happen on a business day when a utility representative is available to accept payment from you. If your payment due date falls on a weekend or holiday, you have until the next business day to pay without being counted late.³

Cold-Weather and Hot-Weather Protections

Georgia restricts disconnections during dangerous weather, but the winter and summer rules operate differently.

Winter Rule

Between November 15 and March 15, a utility cannot disconnect service for an unpaid bill if the forecasted low temperature for the 24-hour period starting at 8:00 a.m. on the disconnection date is below 32°F in your area.¹ The protection is conditional. To qualify, you must agree in writing to pay the past-due balance in equal installments starting after March 15 and finishing before the following October 15, and to pay all current bills on time going forward. Break either commitment and the protection ends.

Summer Rule

In summer, the trigger is a heat advisory rather than a fixed temperature. An electric utility cannot disconnect service if, before 8:00 a.m. on the scheduled disconnection date, a National Weather Service Heat Advisory or Excessive Heat Warning is in effect or forecasted for the county where your meter is located.³ Unlike the winter rule, the summer protection does not require you to sign a payment agreement.

Medical Emergency Postponements

If someone in your household has a serious illness that would get worse without electricity, you can postpone a disconnection, but the process has strict steps and deadlines.¹

First, notify the utility about the medical condition, in writing or by phone. If you call, follow up with written notice within ten days. Then, within ten days of that initial notification, provide the utility with a written statement from a physician, county board of health, hospital, or clinic. The statement must identify the illness, state how long it’s expected to last, and certify that disconnection would make it worse.

Once the utility has the documentation, disconnection is put on hold for whichever is shorter: the expected length of the illness or one month from the date of your initial notice. You can renew the postponement one additional time by repeating the process with a new medical statement. After that, the protection expires. If there’s a dispute about whether a serious illness exists, either side can refer the matter to the PSC for a final decision.

If a household member depends on powered medical equipment such as an oxygen concentrator or ventilator, don’t wait for a shutoff notice. Contact your utility and get the certification on file before a crisis hits.

Disputing a Bill Before Shutoff

If you believe your bill is wrong, Georgia’s rules give you a path to challenge it before the utility can cut service. After you’ve exhausted the utility’s own dispute process without resolution, you can ask the PSC to investigate. The request can be made orally at first but must be followed up in writing. While the PSC investigates, the utility cannot disconnect over the disputed amount.¹

Many customers give up too early. If you’ve called the utility, argued your case, and been told the bill stands, that’s actually when your right to bring the PSC into the dispute kicks in. Put it in writing and specifically request a PSC investigation before the scheduled disconnection date.

If Your Landlord Cuts the Power

Georgia law separately addresses situations where a landlord, not the utility, shuts off your electricity. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-14.1, a landlord cannot knowingly and willfully suspend utility service to a tenant before a court has issued a final ruling in a formal eviction (dispossessory) proceeding. The statute defines “utilities” to include cooling, heat, light, and water.⁴

A landlord who violates this law faces a criminal fine of up to $500 upon conviction. If a landlord shuts off your electricity to pressure you out of the property, document the shutoff with photos and timestamps, file a police report, and contact the PSC or a legal aid organization. A landlord must go through the courts to evict you; self-help through a utility cutoff is not legal.

If You’ve Filed Bankruptcy

Filing bankruptcy triggers a separate federal protection for your utility service under 11 U.S.C. § 366. Once you file, your electric company cannot shut off service, refuse to provide service, or discriminate against you because you filed or because you owe money for service received before the filing date.⁵

The protection has a hard deadline. You must provide the utility with “adequate assurance of payment” for future service within 20 days of filing (30 days in a Chapter 11 case). Miss the deadline and the utility can disconnect. Acceptable forms of assurance include a cash deposit, letter of credit, certificate of deposit, surety bond, or prepayment of expected charges. If the utility rejects your proposed assurance, you can ask the bankruptcy court to order it accepted, but don’t let the deadline pass while you’re negotiating.

Getting Reconnected and Paying Down What You Owe

Once you’ve resolved the reason for disconnection, the utility must restore service. PSC rules don’t specify an exact reconnection timeline, but the expectation is prompt restoration after you clear the balance or otherwise satisfy the utility’s requirements. Reconnection fees vary by provider and may differ for after-hours work. Ask for the fee schedule before you pay so you know the total needed to get power back.

If you can’t cover the balance on your own, Georgia administers the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through local Community Action Agencies for households at or below 60% of the state median income. Heating assistance opens the first workday of December for residents 65 and older or medically homebound, and the first workday of January for others; cooling assistance opens the first workday of April and May respectively.⁶ Funding is first-come, first-served and does run out.

Filing a Complaint With the PSC

If a utility disconnected you without proper notice, during a weather moratorium, or while a medical certification was on file, a PSC complaint is the fastest way to force corrective action. You can file three ways:⁷

Online through the PSC’s consumer complaint portal at psc.ga.gov
By phone at (404) 656-4501 or toll-free at (800) 282-5813
By mail to Georgia Public Service Commission, 244 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30334-9052

Keep copies of any disconnection notices, bills, and written communications with the utility. That documentation is what turns a complaint into something the PSC can act on.

1
Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Rules and Regulations 515-3-2 – Residential Electric and Gas Utility Service Disconnections
2
Legal Information Institute. Georgia Code Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. R. 515-3-2-.01 – Reasons for Disconnection
3
Georgia Public Service Commission. Electric Disconnection
4
Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-14.1 – Landlords Duties as to Utilities
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 366 – Utility Service
6
Georgia Department of Family and Children Services. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
7
Georgia Public Service Commission. Contact the GPSC