In Kentucky, an electric utility can shut off residential service in any month of the year, including the coldest and hottest ones. The only calendar-based protection in state regulations runs from November 1 through March 31, and it applies only to customers who take specific steps to invoke it. There is no summer protection and no temperature-based ban on disconnections.
The November 1 to March 31 Winter Window
Between November 1 and March 31, Kentucky regulations give residential electric and gas customers two related protections. If you receive a disconnection notice during those months and present a certificate of need from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (or its designee) during the 10-day notice window, the utility cannot shut off your service.1Kentucky Public Service Commission. Road Map to Utility Services in Kentucky If your service has already been cut off, the utility must reconnect you during the same window once you meet the qualifying conditions.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules
This is not a blanket winter moratorium. If you do nothing after receiving a shutoff notice in January, your utility can disconnect you in January. The protection only exists for customers who actively invoke it.
How to Qualify
Three things have to line up:
- A certificate of need from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or a designated local agency. You qualify if your household gross income is at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or if you are eligible for the cabinet’s energy assistance program.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules
- A partial payment of one-third of your outstanding balance or $200, whichever is less.
- A repayment plan that brings your account current by October 15.
If your balance is over $600, the utility still has to accept a repayment plan as long as you agree to pay current charges and make a good-faith reduction in the balance consistent with your ability to pay.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules A new security deposit cannot be required from a customer reconnected under this provision.
One requirement people miss: the certificate of need comes with a referral to the Cabinet’s weatherization program, and you must agree to accept those services. Weatherization work like insulation and weather stripping depends on available funding, so agreeing is not a guarantee that your home will be worked on soon. Refusing, though, can disqualify you.
Staying Protected After You Qualify
Reconnection under the winter rules is conditional. If you fall behind on the agreed repayment schedule, the utility can disconnect you again without sending a new termination notice.1Kentucky Public Service Commission. Road Map to Utility Services in Kentucky As long as you stay current on the plan, you cannot be disconnected.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules
Medical Hardship Blocks a Shutoff Any Month of the Year
No matter what the calendar says, your utility cannot disconnect your service for 30 days beyond the scheduled termination date if a physician, registered nurse, or public health officer certifies in writing that losing power would aggravate a serious illness or medical condition affecting someone in your home.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules The utility also cannot require a new deposit during that 30-day period.
Consecutive extensions beyond the first 30 days are possible, but the utility can require you to enter a partial payment plan before granting more time. The medical certificate does not erase your balance. You still owe for the service you use during the extension.
The Notice You Must Receive Before Any Shutoff
Before disconnecting electric or gas service for non-payment in any month, a Kentucky utility has to satisfy two timing rules. The written termination notice must go out at least 10 days before the planned shutoff date. And service cannot be disconnected earlier than 27 days after the mailing date of the original unpaid bill.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules Both have to be met. A valid 10-day notice does not override the 27-day floor from the bill’s mailing date.
The termination notice itself has to state the reason for disconnection, warn you that a later bill does not change the shutoff date, and tell you about your right to dispute the charges. For residential customers, the notice must also point to local, state, and federal assistance programs and give contact information for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules
Two situations skip the notice entirely. If the utility finds a dangerous condition on your property related to its service, or if there is illegal use of service, it can disconnect immediately.
No Summer or Heat-Based Protection
Kentucky has no law or regulation that prevents electric disconnections during summer months, during a heat wave, or at any specific temperature. There is no temperature trigger in either direction, winter or summer. Roughly 42 states have some kind of cold-weather disconnection policy, and about 19 have protections tied to extreme heat; Kentucky’s rule relies entirely on the certificate-of-need process described above rather than a direct ban.
Legislation has been introduced to change that. House Bill 377, filed in the 2026 session, would bar electric and gas utilities from disconnecting residential service when the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures at or below 32 degrees or at or above 95 degrees, with disconnections resuming only after a 72-hour period in which the temperature standard is no longer exceeded.3Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 26RS HB 377 As of early 2026, the bill had been referred to the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee and had not advanced. Until something passes, summer shutoffs are legal regardless of how hot it is.
If Your Power Is Already Off
Contact your utility to start the reconnection process. In most cases you will have to pay the past-due amount and a reconnection fee. Reconnection fees are not uniform across the state because each utility sets its own fee through a tariff approved by the Public Service Commission.
The utility may also require a security deposit before restoring service, though it cannot base that requirement solely on the fact that you rent. If the disconnection happens between November 1 and March 31 and you qualify under the winter hardship rules, you can skip the deposit entirely by producing a certificate of need, making the partial payment, and entering a repayment agreement.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 807 KAR 5:006 – General Rules
Help with the underlying bill is available through the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered in Kentucky by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The same cabinet issues the certificate of need, so applying for energy assistance before you fall behind puts you in position to use the winter protection if you ever need it.
If you cannot work things out with your utility, the Kentucky Public Service Commission accepts consumer complaints and oversees investor-owned electric companies, rural electric cooperatives, and other regulated utilities in the state.4Kentucky Public Service Commission. Frequently Asked Questions