Louisiana’s electricity shut-off laws give you a defined window and specific protections before a utility can cut your power. The Louisiana Public Service Commission requires a written notice mailed at least 15 days before disconnection, prohibits shutoffs during declared emergencies, and provides medical, financial, and procedural safeguards you can use to keep the lights on or get them back on quickly.
When a Utility Can Disconnect Your Service
Nonpayment is the most common reason a Louisiana electric utility will disconnect. If your bill goes past due and you don’t respond to the required notices, the utility can begin the shutoff process. Other grounds include meter tampering, unauthorized use of electricity, safety hazards such as dangerous wiring, and breaking the terms of a payment agreement you already set up.
What a utility cannot do is skip the LPSC’s procedural rules. Every disconnection has to satisfy specific notice and timing requirements, and certain customers get extra protection on top of that. When a utility short-circuits those steps, the disconnection may be improper and you have grounds to complain.
The 15-Day Notice Rule
LPSC rules require that a utility cannot disconnect your service less than 15 days from the date it mails a written notice of intent to disconnect. If day 15 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline pushes to the close of the utility’s next business day.
The notice should tell you why service is being terminated, how much you owe, what you can do to stop the shutoff, your right to dispute it, and how to reach both the utility and the LPSC. Some providers go further: utilities in New Orleans, for example, prohibit disconnections on weekends, holidays, the day before a holiday, and Fridays, which effectively extends the buffer before service can actually be cut.
How to Stop a Pending Shutoff
The 15-day window exists so you can act. There are four practical ways to use it.
Medical Certification
If someone in your household has a medical condition that makes electricity essential to their health or safety, a licensed physician’s certification can pause disconnection. Entergy Louisiana allows service to continue for up to 30 days for a qualifying customer whose disconnection would cause a medical emergency.1Entergy Louisiana. Bill Toolkit – Something Else The certification does not erase the debt. It buys time to find a payment solution or apply for assistance.
Energy Emergency Deferred Billing
When the LPSC declares an “Energy Emergency,” pre-enrolled customers in vulnerable categories can defer payments. South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association’s program covers customers 65 or older with income below 150% of the federal poverty level, recipients of SNAP or TANF, people whose sole income is Social Security, and anyone who depends on life-sustaining electrical equipment.2South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association. Energy Emergency Deferred Billing Enrollment has to happen before the emergency is declared, so if you qualify, sign up now rather than waiting.
Payment Arrangements
If you can’t pay the full balance by the disconnection date, call your utility before the deadline. Most Louisiana providers will negotiate a deferred payment arrangement that spreads the past-due amount across several months while you stay current on new charges. Terms vary: some plans require a down payment, others spread the balance evenly. Utilities are consistently more flexible with customers who call before the shutoff than with those who wait for it. If a utility refuses reasonable terms, that refusal itself is something you can raise with the LPSC.
LIHEAP Assistance
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps qualifying Louisiana residents pay heating and cooling bills and can be used to prevent disconnection or fund reconnection after one.3USAGov. Get Help With Energy Bills For federal fiscal year 2026, Louisiana’s income limits run from $30,618 for a one-person household to $58,882 for a family of four.4Louisiana Housing Corporation. LIHEAP Income Eligibility Limits for FFY2026 – Louisiana The Louisiana Housing Corporation’s Energy Assistance Department takes applications and eligibility questions at 225-763-8700 or E4@lhc.la.gov.
Extreme Weather and Emergency Moratoriums
The LPSC adopted General Order R-29706 to address disconnection of electric and gas customers during extreme weather conditions.5Louisiana Public Service Commission. General Orders and Regulations When a state of emergency is declared, utilities are generally prohibited from disconnecting residential service, and that moratorium typically stays in place until the emergency declaration is lifted.
Louisiana does not publish a fixed temperature that automatically triggers a moratorium the way some other states do. The LPSC has authority to issue orders restricting disconnections whenever conditions warrant, and utilities may be expected to hold off during dangerous heat waves or cold snaps even without a formal declaration. After a major storm, utilities coordinate with local emergency management to prioritize restoring power to critical locations.
Bankruptcy Protection
Filing bankruptcy gives you immediate protection on utility service. Under 11 U.S.C. ยง 366, a utility cannot disconnect solely because you filed a bankruptcy case or because you didn’t pay a pre-filing debt on time.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 366 – Utility Service The protection is automatic when the case is filed.
You have 20 days from the filing date to give the utility “adequate assurance of payment” for future service, usually a deposit. Miss that 20-day window and the utility can disconnect. A bankruptcy court can adjust the deposit if it’s unreasonable, but only if you ask. If utility debt is part of why you’re considering bankruptcy, talk to an attorney about timing so this window doesn’t close on you.
Reconnection Fees and What They Cost
Once power is cut, restoration usually requires paying the past-due balance or entering into a payment arrangement, plus a reconnection fee. Costs vary widely by provider:
- CLECO charges $15 during regular business hours and $30 after 4:30 p.m. Service can be restored the same day payment is made through CLECO’s online portal, phone system, or a reported in-person payment.7CLECO. Disconnect and Reconnect FAQs
- Entergy Louisiana customers with standard smart meters may face no reconnection charge, because the meter can be switched on remotely. Non-standard meters carry an $8.50 service charge.8Entergy Louisiana. Schedule of Charges for Miscellaneous Services
- Some smaller utilities and cooperatives charge substantially more. LPSC filings show reconnection fees as high as $70 during regular hours and $100 after hours for certain providers.
Your utility may also require an additional security deposit if the one on your account no longer covers your highest recent bill. Fees that look unreasonable can be challenged through the LPSC.
Security Deposit Rules
Louisiana law requires any utility that collects a cash security deposit to pay interest on it at 5% per year for as long as the utility holds it. When service ends, the utility has to return the deposit balance plus earned interest on demand. If it refuses or neglects to return the money, it owes a penalty of 10% annual interest on the unreturned amount.9Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 45 RS 848 – Deposits by Patrons
The statute doesn’t set a hard cap on deposit size, but the LPSC regulates what utilities can charge, and deposits are typically calculated on one to two months of estimated usage. If a requested deposit seems out of line with your expected bill, ask the utility to explain the calculation and file a complaint if the answer doesn’t hold up.
Filing a Complaint With the LPSC
The LPSC has jurisdiction over all non-municipally owned electric utilities and all electric cooperatives in Louisiana, and it’s the first place to go when a utility disconnects service improperly, overcharges, or refuses reasonable payment terms.10Louisiana Public Service Commission. Submitting a Complaint with the Louisiana Public Service Commission
To file, contact your LPSC Commissioner’s office with your name, address, parish, phone number, the utility’s name, and a short description of the problem. Complaints can be submitted by email, postal mail, or phone. If you don’t know which Commissioner covers your district, the LPSC website has a district map, or you can call the main office at 800-256-2397.
Most disputes get resolved informally through the Commissioner’s office. If that fails, the LPSC has an Administrative Hearings Division where complaints can be formally docketed. Consumers who suffer financial harm from a wrongful disconnection can also pursue claims in state court, though that path costs more and takes longer. Louisiana Legal Services and similar organizations may be able to help low-income residents at no cost.