Missouri Utilities Can’t Cut Off Heat When a Freeze Is Forecast Within 72 Hours, Under a Cold Weather Rule That Runs Through March 31

A shutoff notice in November lands differently than one in July. In Missouri, a household that heats with gas or electricity now has more breathing room than it did two winters ago, because the state’s protection against winter disconnections looks three days ahead instead of one.

Missouri’s Cold Weather Rule took effect Nov. 1 and runs through March 31. Under it, regulated electric and natural gas utilities cannot cut off heat-related service on any day the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures below 32 degrees during the next 72 hours, Hannibal.net reported as the rule began.

What the 72-hour forecast window means

The protection is written into state law. As KBIA explained last winter, heating service cannot be disconnected from Nov. 1 through March 31 if temperatures are forecast to drop below 32 degrees in the 72-hour window. Hannibal.net reported that the forecast check applies between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

In practice, that means a Monday-morning forecast showing a low of 28 degrees on Wednesday night is enough to stop a disconnection on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Under the old 24-hour test, the utility could have shut off service Monday as long as Monday night stayed above freezing. For a family already behind on a bill, those extra days can be the difference between getting a payment plan in place and spending a cold night without heat.

The protection covers heat-related service, meaning the gas or electricity a home depends on to stay warm.

Why the window grew from 24 hours

Until 2025, the rule looked only 24 hours ahead. Senate Bill 4, a broad utility law the General Assembly passed in 2025, stretched the window to 72 hours for both the winter rule and its summer counterpart, according to St. Louis Public Radio.

The difference is not small. Using National Weather Service data, St. Louis Public Radio found the longer window would have protected 25 more days in winter 2024 and 18 more days in summer 2024. The station also reported that Ameren disconnected more than 4,000 customers in June of last year, when more than 160,000 were behind on their bills.

This is the second winter the 72-hour version has been in place. The same law gave the summer rule a matching window: from June 1 to Sept. 30, St. Louis Public Radio reported, shutoffs pause when the forecast calls for 95 degrees or a heat index of 105. Taken together, the two rules mean Missouri households are protected during the hottest and coldest stretches of the year, as long as their utility is one the state regulates.

Which utilities it covers, and which it doesn’t

The rule binds the investor-owned utilities regulated by the Missouri Public Service Commission. Hannibal.net named four: Ameren Missouri, Spire, Evergy and Liberty Utilities.

Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are not regulated by the commission, so the rule does not automatically cover their customers. Many of them have their own winter protection policies, and a household on a city or co-op system should ask its provider directly what applies.

Payment plans and extra help for seniors

The forecast window is only part of the rule. During the cold weather season, regulated utilities must offer more lenient payment terms, including 12-month budget payment agreements, and must tell customers about possible financial help before disconnecting them, according to Hannibal.net. Qualifying households can get heat reconnected without paying the full past-due balance first.

Customers who are 65 or older, or who have a verified disability, can register with their utility for added protections and special minimum payment arrangements. That registration is not automatic; the customer or a family member has to ask for it.

For households that need to set up an agreement, the steps are:

• Call the utility and say plainly that the bill cannot be paid in full.
• Provide income documentation if the utility asks for it.
• Make any required minimum payment.
• Sign a formal payment agreement, and keep a copy.

Where Missouri households can get help with the bill

The Cold Weather Rule delays a shutoff, but the bill is still owed. Missouri’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, run by the Department of Social Services, offers two kinds of help.

The regular Energy Assistance benefit is a one-time payment for one fuel type toward heating or cooling costs. The Energy Crisis Intervention Program pays toward a bill when there is a shutoff notice, a final bill, a nearly empty propane or oil tank, or a prepaid account about to run out. During the winter, from November through May, crisis help can reach up to $800 depending on funding. Households must have $3,000 or less in bank, retirement or investment accounts, and income within the state’s limits for their size.

Applications can be filed online, by mail or in person through a local contracted agency, and the department’s help line is 855-373-4636. The state says it generally reviews applications within about 30 business days unless the case is treated as a crisis, and it urges households to keep paying their utility what they can in the meantime.

Other states have their own winter protections this season, including New Jersey, where shutoff protection starts Nov. 15, and Ohio, where households facing a shutoff can turn to the Winter Crisis Program.

Customers with a complaint about how their utility is applying the rule can contact the Public Service Commission’s consumer services office, or a local community action agency for help with payment.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Tony Webster – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons