The PGW medical certification form stops Philadelphia Gas Works from shutting off your natural gas when a licensed medical professional confirms that losing service would worsen a household member’s health. Once PGW receives a valid written certification, any pending shutoff is postponed for up to 30 days.1Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 52 Pa. Code 56.111 – General Provision If your gas has already been disconnected, the same document forces restoration within 24 hours.2Philadelphia Gas Works. Your Gas Has Been Shut-Off No particular form is required — a letter from your doctor that includes the right information works just as well as a printed template.
How to Get the Form
You have three options. Use the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s standard medical certificate template, use PGW’s own version, or have your provider write a letter that contains all the required details.3Philadelphia Gas Works. Medical Certificate Guidance
The fastest route for many customers is to call PGW at (215) 235-1777, give them your doctor’s fax number, and have PGW fax a blank medical certificate directly to the provider’s office. Your doctor fills it out and sends it back to PGW without you having to handle the paperwork in between. If you prefer to download something ahead of time, PGW publishes its medical certificate guidance at pgworks.com, and the PUC’s template is available through the Commission’s website. Neither template is mandatory. What matters is that whatever document your provider submits carries every piece of information the regulations demand.
What the Certification Must Include
Pennsylvania regulations list five items that every medical certification must contain, whether it comes on a printed form or in a letter.4Pennsylvania Code. 52 Pa. Code 56.113 – Medical Certifications
- The full name and address of the person the PGW account is in.
- The name and address of the household member with the medical condition, and that person’s relationship to the account holder. The patient does not have to be the account holder.
- How long the condition is expected to last. If the provider does not specify a period, PGW must treat the certification as lasting 30 days.
- The certifying provider’s full name, office address, and telephone number.
- The provider’s signature. Electronic signatures are valid, and the document can be transmitted electronically.
Diagnosis Disclosure Is Not Required
Your provider does not need to name the illness. The certification only has to confirm that the patient has a serious medical condition that would be aggravated by loss of gas service.1Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 52 Pa. Code 56.111 – General Provision Whether the condition qualifies is the provider’s medical judgment. PGW cannot demand clinical detail or second-guess that determination.
Who Can Sign
Only three types of licensed professionals can certify the condition: a physician (M.D. or D.O.), a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner. A social worker, therapist, or home health aide cannot sign, however closely involved they are in the patient’s care. The signer must be licensed to practice in Pennsylvania.
If PGW Is at Your Door Without a Form Yet
If a PGW employee arrives to disconnect service and you do not yet have written certification, tell the employee that someone in the household is seriously ill and that you are getting a medical certificate. Pennsylvania law requires the utility to hold off for at least three days so you can obtain the paperwork.5Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 52 Pa. Code 56.112 – Postponement of Termination Pending Receipt of Certificate If nothing arrives in those three days, PGW can pick the shutoff back up where it left off. This grace period is separate from the 30-day protection that starts once PGW actually has a written certification in hand.
How to Submit It
In most cases the provider sends the completed certification directly to PGW by fax or electronically.4Pennsylvania Code. 52 Pa. Code 56.113 – Medical Certifications If PGW faxed a blank form to the office, the provider usually faxes the completed version back to the same number. You can also mail or hand-deliver the certification to a PGW customer service location. Call (215) 235-1777 to confirm the current fax number and mailing address, since those details can change.
Keep a copy of everything: the completed certification, any fax confirmation pages, and notes on when you called and who you spoke with. If a dispute later comes up about whether PGW received the document, that paper trail is your best defense.
What Protection You Get
Once PGW accepts a valid certification, any pending shutoff is postponed for up to 30 days.6Legal Information Institute. 52 Pa. Code 56.114 – Length of Postponement; Renewals If the provider writes in a shorter period, protection lasts only that long. If no period is stated, the default is 30 days.
If your gas is already off, PGW must make a diligent effort to restore service the same day it receives the certification, and service must be reconnected within 24 hours.7Pennsylvania Code. 52 Pa. Code 56.355 – Restoration of Service PGW is required to keep employees available or on call for emergency restorations.
You Still Have to Pay Your Current Bills
A medical certification is not a bill freeze. You remain responsible for paying your current undisputed gas bills, or your budget billing amount, for the entire time the certification is in effect, including through any renewals.8Pennsylvania Code. 52 Pa. Code 56.116 – Duty of Customer to Pay Bills The certification prevents disconnection. It does not erase what you owe.
If service is already off and you are asking for restoration, PGW may require a payment toward your outstanding balance along with the certification.9Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Medical Certificate Guidance Raise payment arrangements on the same call so a billing issue does not hold up reconnection.
Renewals and When They Run Out
If the medical condition lasts beyond 30 days, your provider can renew the certification the same way as the original. Each renewal extends protection for another 30 days.6Legal Information Institute. 52 Pa. Code 56.114 – Length of Postponement; Renewals There is no cap on renewals as long as you are keeping up with your current bills.
The picture changes if you fall behind. When a customer is not equitably paying current charges, Pennsylvania limits renewals to two additional 30-day certifications for the same unpaid charges.6Legal Information Institute. 52 Pa. Code 56.114 – Length of Postponement; Renewals After the second renewal in that situation, PGW does not have to honor a third and does not need Public Utility Commission approval before proceeding with termination.
PGW can also petition the PUC at any point to contest the validity of a certification, seek permission to terminate service for nonpayment of current bills, or challenge a renewal.10Cornell Law Institute. Pennsylvania Code 52 Pa. Code 56.118 – Right of Public Utility to Petition the Commission While a petition is pending, PGW must keep service on until the Commission issues a final decision.
Winter Adds a Second Layer of Protection
Between December 1 and March 31, PGW faces additional restrictions on disconnection. As a city-owned gas utility, PGW cannot shut off service during that window to households at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. For households between 150% and 250% of poverty, a shutoff after January 1 is only permitted if the customer failed to pay at least 50% of charges in each of the prior two months.11Pennsylvania Code. 52 Pa. Code 56.100 – Winter Termination
Even customers in that 150–250% range who are behind on payments are protected from winter shutoff if they hold an active medical certification, have a household member 65 or older, or have a child 12 or younger at home.11Pennsylvania Code. 52 Pa. Code 56.100 – Winter Termination A certification filed in winter stacks on top of these seasonal rules.
Programs That Address the Underlying Bill
The certification buys 30 days. It does not fix an ongoing inability to pay, and since renewals depend on keeping current, address the bill at the same time. PGW’s Customer Responsibility Program can cut low-income customers’ bills by more than half. The CARES program offers payment help during medical emergencies, job loss, and similar hardships. LIHEAP, Crisis, and Hardship Fund grants provide direct assistance to low-income households facing termination or broken heating equipment. Budget billing spreads projected annual usage into equal monthly payments, which does not lower the total but makes winter more predictable.12Philadelphia Gas Works. Assistance Programs and Grants
Apply for CRP or CARES on the same call in which you arrange the certification. That way the paperwork protecting you now and the program keeping the account in good standing later are both moving at once.