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Heat Cannot Be Cut Off 1 November to 31 March — and a Federal Disability Award Letter Is One of the Three Keys

From 1 November to 31 March a gas or electric utility may not disconnect heat-related service for non-payment where the customer says they cannot pay in full, makes an initial payment and enters a payment agreement — and must reconnect on the same terms without a deposit. Registering as an elderly or disabled customer adds protection, and one of the three ways to register is a formal disability award letter from the federal government. Service may not be cut on any day the forecast is below 32°F for the next 72 hours.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No winter disconnection and mandatory reconnection without a deposit, on an initial payment of no more than 12% of the annual budget bill

The protection is not veteran-specific. A veteran household reaches it through age, disability or income like anybody else.
The rule binds the gas and electric utilities the Public Service Commission regulates. A municipally owned utility or a rural electric co-operative outside commission jurisdiction may set its own terms.
The 12 percent initial payment is calculated on the twelve-month budget bill the utility must first offer, not on the arrears.

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: Register by 1 October each year

1Register before the winter, not during it. To be a registered elderly or disabled customer you file a form with the utility, and registration must be renewed annually — the rule says it should be done by 1 October each year after the first.
2Three things qualify you to register: being 65 or older; filing a medical form from a physician attesting that the household must have gas or electric service in the home to maintain life or health; OR holding a formal award letter issued from the federal government of disability benefits. A federal veterans department disability award letter is a formal federal disability award letter, and that is the route most veterans will use.
3If your household income is under 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, sign the affidavit and register as a LOW-INCOME registered elderly or disabled customer — that is the status that carries the extra winter protection, and the utility may audit it.
4To stop a disconnection between 1 November and 31 March, do four things: contact the utility and state that you cannot pay in full; make the initial payment and enter a payment agreement; comply with the utility’s requests for information about your monthly or annual income; and have no other lawful reason for disconnection outstanding.
5Know what the initial payment is. For a customer who has not defaulted on a cold weather rule plan it is no more than 12 percent of the twelve-month budget bill amount; for a customer who has defaulted it is 80 percent of the balance — unless the utility agrees a different figure.
6Ask for the twelve-month budget plan first, which the utility must offer. If you cannot pay that, the rule lets you and the utility agree a longer period, weighing the size of the arrears, how long they took to build, why, your payment history and your ability to pay.
7A LIHEAP pledge counts as the payment. Where the agency administering the federal energy assistance programme pledges an amount equal to a payment the rule requires, that pledge is deemed to be the payment.
8Already disconnected is not too late: from 1 November to 31 March the utility must reconnect without requiring a deposit on the same four conditions, provided none of the amount owed came from unauthorised interference with or diversion of service.
9Refuse a new deposit. The rule bars the utility from assessing a new deposit, or billing an old one, during or after the rule period for a customer who enters a payment agreement and pays on time.
10The temperature moratorium is separate and needs no agreement at all: no disconnection on any day when the National Weather Service local forecast issued between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. predicts the temperature will drop below 32°F in the next 72 hours, or when nobody will be available to reconnect during a forecast cold spell.
11A low-income registered elderly or disabled customer on a cold weather plan who keeps paying at least the lesser of 50 percent of the actual bill or the agreed levelised amount cannot be disconnected between 1 November and 31 March — the shortfall is recovered by adjusting later levelised payments.
12If you move within the utility’s service area or an adjacent one, the agreement moves with you: pay what should have been paid to date plus any past-due amounts outside the agreement, and the terms otherwise stay the same.

Form: Registration form approved by the utility, plus a cold weather rule payment agreement
File with: Your gas or electric utility; complaints to the Public Service Commission
Documents you will need: va rating decision
Annual: Claimed once a year.

CorrectionThere is no veteran utility discount here and no veteran shutoff bar. The whole of 20 CSR 4240-13 was searched for "veteran" and "military" and contains neither. What a veteran household actually has is a route INTO a general protection — the federal disability award letter that registers you as a disabled customer — which is a different and more useful thing than a discount that does not exist.

Worth knowingRegistering is worth doing even if you never fall behind. A registered elderly or disabled customer gets two telephone call attempts alongside the mailed notice, a second contact within the 96 hours before disconnection, and a personal contact on the premises at the moment of disconnection with the customer or a family member over fifteen.

Worth knowingThe notice the utility sends must itself tell you where the money is: the rule requires every notice and contact to describe the terms of service under the rule, how the required payments are calculated, and the availability of assistance from the Department of Social Services and from the charitable organisations that have told the utility they help.

Worth knowingDefaulting once is expensive. The initial payment to get back on a plan after a default is 80 percent of the balance rather than 12 percent of the budget bill — but a customer who has defaulted and has NOT yet been disconnected can be reinstated by paying only what should have been paid to date plus any past-due amounts outside the agreement.

Known gapRSMo 393.109, which the rule says takes precedence alongside it, could not be read: revisor.mo.gov did not resolve to a plain fetch and browser navigation to it was refused this session.

Sources

authority · regulation20 CSR 4240-13.055 — Cold Weather Maintenance of Service: Provision of Residential Heat-Related Utility Service During Cold Weather: the 1 November to 31 March period, the definitions of registered elderly or disabled customer including the formal federal disability award letter route and the annual 1 October re-registration, the low-income registered customer definition at 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the notice requirements, the 32°F 72-hour temperature moratorium, the 50 percent payment protection for low-income registered elderly and disabled customers, the four conditions barring disconnection, the reconnection provisions, the deposit bar, and the payment agreement rules including the twelve-month budget plan and the 12 percent and 80 percent initial payments. The rule and RSMo 393.109 take precedence over other rules on heat-related service in that period. The rule contains no reference to military service or to a veteran

Why only one source type: The Public Service Commission’s own site at psc.mo.gov did not resolve from this network on any attempt, so no plain-language version could be read alongside the rule. The regulation is the operating instrument itself — a utility applies it directly and a commission complaint is decided on it.

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