Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Minnesota benefits
utilitiesstateYou appear to qualify

Heat Cannot Be Cut Off From 1 October to 30 April — and a VA Pension Letter Proves the Income

During the cold weather period a utility may not disconnect, and must reconnect, heating service for a household at or below 50 percent of the state median income that enters and keeps to a payment agreement — and the utility may not require more than ten percent of household income toward current and past heating bills. The statute names a pension from the federal veterans department as one of the documents that proves the income. There is no veteran-specific rule anywhere in the section.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

During the cold weather period a utility may not disconnect, and must reconnect, heating service for a household at or below 50 percent of the state median income that enters and keeps to a payment agreement — and the utility may not require more than ten percent of household income toward current and past heating bills. The statute names a pension from the federal veterans department as one of the documents that proves the income. There is no veteran-specific rule anywhere in the section.

What it's worth: No disconnection and mandatory reconnection October to April, with payments capped at ten percent of household income

  • The protection is income-based, not service-based. A veteran household reaches it the same way any other household does.
  • Household income excludes any amount received for energy assistance, which the definition states expressly and which can decide a marginal case.
  • The section binds public utilities, cooperative electric associations that have elected public utility status, and municipally owned utilities for their non-resident consumers. A municipal utility serving its own residents may sit outside it.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

Deadline: Before the disconnection date on the notice
  1. 1Know the window. The cold weather period runs from 1 October to 30 April of the following year, and the protection is written for that period.
  2. 2Ask for a payment agreement based on your household’s financial resources and circumstances. The utility may not require you to pay more than ten percent of household income toward current and past heating bills, though it may accept more if you offer it.
  3. 3Prove the income the easy way. Subdivision 6 lets the utility simply accept your signed statement that you are income eligible, or take verification from a local energy assistance provider or a government agency.
  4. 4If documents are wanted, a pension from the federal veterans department is on the statutory list — alongside a tax return, two months of payslips, a dismissal letter or other supporting documentation.
  5. 5If you already receive energy assistance under a programme whose eligibility is household income at or below 50 percent of state median income, you are automatically eligible and the utility may not ask for any further verification.
  6. 6Already disconnected is not too late: the utility must RECONNECT, not merely refrain from cutting off, and must use reasonable efforts to restore service within 24 hours of an accepted payment agreement.
  7. 7Refuse a deposit or delinquency charge. During the cold weather period the utility may not charge either to a customer who has entered a payment agreement or who has appealed to the commission.
  8. 8Name a third party. The utility must send a copy of any future disconnection notice to a third party you designate — ask that person first, then request it in writing.
  9. 9Appeal if the utility will not agree terms. Subdivision 8 gives a right of appeal to the commission both on the income determination and on the failure to reach a mutually acceptable payment agreement, and service may not be cut off while an appeal is pending.
  10. 10Ask for a modification if your circumstances change. The customer or the designated third party may request one, and the agreement ends when the cold weather period does unless you both agree a longer term.
Form
A payment agreement with the utility, with income verification
File with
Your electric or gas utility; appeals to the Public Utilities Commission
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
Annual
Claimed once a year.
CorrectionThere is no veteran utility discount here and no veteran shutoff bar. The section was read in full and contains neither "veteran" nor "military" as a category of protection — the one mention of the federal veterans department is as a source of a pension letter proving low income. What a veteran household has is the same income-based protection as everyone else, which is worth knowing before hunting for a rate that does not exist.
Worth knowingThe notice arrives before the cold weather does. Between 15 August and 1 October every year the utility must send every customer a summary of rights and responsibilities — that document is the one to keep, because it contains the third-party notice and the local energy assistance and weatherisation contacts.
Worth knowingThe protection covers heating specifically. "Utility heating service" is natural gas or electricity used as a primary heating source, including the electricity needed to run gas heating equipment, at the customer’s primary residence.
Worth knowingHouseholds above the 50 percent threshold are not left with nothing — subdivision 10 addresses customers above 50 percent of state median income separately, and is worth reading if your income puts you just outside the main rule.

Sources

Why only one source type: mn.gov renders only in a browser from this network, so the Public Utilities Commission’s plain-language version of the cold weather rule could not be read this session. The section is the operating instrument itself — a utility applies it directly and an appeal is decided on it.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.