Gov. Maura Healey declared a State of Energy Emergency this week and warned of “a very difficult winter” for heating bills. If you are already behind, the question that matters most is not how much help is coming. It is whether your gas or electric company can cut you off, and whether your landlord can let your apartment go cold.
Massachusetts has some of the strongest winter shutoff protections in the country. They are not automatic, they have deadlines, and they do not cover everyone. This guide walks through every one of them, using the statutes and the Department of Public Utilities regulations themselves, and ends with a checklist you can use today.
The short answer
- Gas and electric: between November 15 and March 15, a utility cannot shut off heat-related service to a residential customer who cannot pay because of financial hardship, under G.L. c. 164, § 124F. You have to tell the company and back it up with a form.
- All year: a utility cannot shut you off if someone in the home is seriously ill or there is a baby under 12 months, once it is properly certified. Households where everyone is 65 or older cannot be shut off without the state’s written approval.
- Heating oil, propane and wood: no shutoff protection, because those dealers are not regulated utilities. Fuel assistance is the tool there.
- Renters whose landlord pays for heat: the landlord must keep every habitable room at least 68 degrees by day and 64 at night from September 15 through May 31. Failing to do it on purpose is a crime.
Protection 1: the winter moratorium (November 15 to March 15)
The statute is one sentence. G.L. c. 164, § 124F: “No gas or electric company shall between November fifteenth and March fifteenth shut off gas or electric service to any residential customer who cannot pay an overdue charge because of financial hardship, when such gas or electric service is used to provide heat or to operate the heating system of the customer’s unit or building.”
Four details in that sentence and its regulation, 220 CMR 25.03, trip people up.
1. It protects only service used for heat. Gas heat qualifies. Electric heat qualifies. So does electricity that runs the heating system, such as the burner and circulator on an oil or gas boiler. An electric account that only powers lights and appliances in a home heated some other way may not be covered by this particular protection.
2. You must be in “financial hardship,” and that has a definition. Under 220 CMR 25.01, financial hardship exists when a customer cannot pay an overdue bill and meets the income eligibility requirements for the federal fuel assistance program (LIHEAP, called HEAP in Massachusetts), or when the DPU’s Consumer Division finds it warranted. In other words, the income test is the fuel assistance income test. Our guide to HEAP income limits and how to apply has the numbers.
3. You must already have service on November 15. The regulation protects customers whose service “has not been shut off for nonpayment before November 15th.” If you are shut off in early November, the moratorium does not automatically turn you back on. That makes the next five weeks the most dangerous window of the year for anyone behind on a bill.
4. You have to claim it. The protection is not applied automatically. You start by calling the company. Under 220 CMR 25.03(2), a claim “may initially be made by telephone,” and the company must then send you a financial hardship form. A signed statement that your income falls within the guidelines is “presumptive evidence of financial hardship.” If the protection continues through the season, quarterly renewal is waived for November 15 to March 15.
The fuel assistance shortcut. If you received fuel assistance last winter, the company must presume you qualify for hardship and protect your account from November 15 through January 1, to give you time to apply again. If you have not applied or certified hardship by January 1, the company may resume normal collection. Apply early.
What protection does not do. It does not erase the bill. The balance keeps growing, and on March 16 normal collection rules return. That is why the payment programs below matter.
Protection 2: serious illness, any time of year
Under 220 CMR 25.03(1), no company may shut off or refuse to restore service if “the customer or someone living in the customer’s home is seriously ill.” This protection is year-round, and it does not require a heating account.
- The initial claim can be made by phone, but the call “must be made by a registered physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or local board of health official.”
- A written certificate from one of those people must reach the company within seven days, stating the person’s name and address, the nature of the illness, and the certifier’s contact information.
- Certification is “conclusive evidence” of the illness unless the DPU decides otherwise after investigation.
- It must be renewed quarterly, or every six months if the illness is certified as chronic.
Serious illness protection still requires financial hardship. The regulation heading frames all three protections as “protection from shut-off due to financial hardship.”
Protection 3: a baby under 12 months
The same regulation bars shutoff if “there is domiciled in the home of the customer a child under 12 months of age.” Proof must reach the company within seven days and can be a birth certificate or a letter from a doctor, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, board of health, hospital, government official, the Department of Transitional Assistance, a member of the clergy or a religious institution. It stays in effect until the child turns one, with no renewal.
Protection 4: households where everyone is 65 or older
Under G.L. c. 164, § 124E and 220 CMR 25.05, a company “may terminate service to a household in which all residents are 65 years of age or older only after such company first secures the written approval of the Department.” The company must notify the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and the DPU will not approve unless, among other things, the company “has in good faith attempted to secure payment by reasonable means other than termination.”
Any customer 65 or older can also designate a third person, such as an adult child, to receive copies of past-due notices and shutoff notices. That person is not liable for the bill. It is free, and it is one of the most useful protections for older relatives living alone. Call the utility to set it up.
What the company must do before cutting service
- Notices. Every past-due notice must include “a prominent written notice” of these protections. No shutoff threat may be sent between November 15 and March 15 to a customer who has filed a hardship notice, unless the DPU authorizes it.
- At the door. A company worker who comes to shut off service must tell an occupant first and hand over a notice of protections and a hardship form. If the occupant claims protection, the shutoff “shall be postponed for 72 hours” so the customer can submit documentation.
- If nobody is home, the company must leave the notice and form at or under the door.
- Disputes. If the company decides you do not qualify and you dispute it, “the Company shall not terminate service pending resolution of the dispute.” You have seven days to call or write the DPU. The DPU can order service continued or restored.
- Penalties. Willful violations carry a $100 penalty per violation, and the DPU can require a company that fails to screen accounts properly to get individual permission for each winter shutoff.
Renters: your landlord’s heat obligations
If your landlord pays for heat, the obligation is on the landlord, not you, and it is strict.
The temperature rule. The State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.180, requires the owner to “provide heat in every habitable room and every room containing a toilet, shower, or bathtub from September 15th through May 31st” so that it is at least 68°F from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and at least 64°F from 11:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. It may never exceed 78°F. Temperature is measured five feet above the floor, on a wall more than five feet from an exterior wall. A local board of health may shorten the season slightly, ending it no earlier than May 15 or starting it no later than September 30.
Who pays for gas and electricity. Under 105 CMR 410.200, the owner must pay for gas and electricity unless the unit has its own meter serving only that unit and a written rental agreement makes the tenant responsible. No separate meter, or no written agreement, generally means the landlord pays.
When the landlord lets it go cold on purpose. G.L. c. 186, § 14 makes it a crime for a landlord who is required to furnish heat to “willfully or intentionally” fail to do so, or to interfere with a utility’s service to the tenant. The landlord is also liable for “actual and consequential damages or three month’s rent, whichever is greater,” plus costs and attorney’s fees, and the tenant can apply that against rent owed. The statute forbids retaliation against a tenant who reports it.
What to do. Notify the landlord in writing and keep a copy. Record temperatures with a dated photo of a thermometer at the five-foot height. Call your local board of health and ask for an inspection; an inspector’s report documenting a code violation is the strongest evidence you can have. If heat is out entirely in winter, tell the board of health it is an emergency.
If you heat with oil or propane
Oil and propane dealers are not regulated utilities, and no shutoff moratorium applies. A dealer can refuse to deliver if you are behind or cannot pay up front. The tools are:
- HEAP fuel assistance, which pays part of your bill directly to the dealer. Healey’s plan raises oil-heat HEAP benefits by 20 percent this season. The program runs November 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027.
- The new middle-income benefit of up to $680 for oil-heat households earning 60 to 100 percent of State Median Income, available starting in December. For a family of four that is more than $103,049 up to $171,749. Details are in our guide to the energy emergency.
- Price gouging rules. During the declared emergency, 940 CMR 3.18 bars oil dealers from charging an “unconscionably high price” not explained by their own higher costs. Complaints go to the Attorney General.
Getting the bill under control
Protection buys time. These lower the bill itself:
- Discount rates. State law, G.L. c. 164, § 1F(4)(i), requires electric distribution companies to offer discounted rates for low-income and eligible moderate-income customers. Ask your gas company whether it offers one too. Eligibility is commonly tied to fuel assistance or other means-tested benefits; ask your utility for the low-income rate by name.
- The SMART charge holiday. The state will cover the solar program charge on residential and commercial electric bills for January through March 2027, according to the governor’s announcement.
- Payment plans and arrearage programs. Utilities offer payment plans, and low-income customers may be eligible for arrearage management programs that forgive part of an old balance in exchange for on-time payments. Ask the company what it offers before a shutoff notice, not after.
Your checklist
- Before November 15: if you are behind, call the utility now and ask for a payment plan and the hardship form. Do not wait to be shut off; the moratorium does not restore service that is already off.
- Apply for HEAP as soon as the season opens November 1, at mass.gov/heatinghelp or your local agency. It qualifies you for hardship protection and usually for discount rates.
- Serious illness or a baby? Have the doctor, PA or NP call the company and send the certificate within seven days.
- Everyone 65 or older? Tell the utility so the account is flagged, and name a third person for notices.
- Get a shutoff notice? Call the company, claim protection, and if they say no, call the DPU Consumer Division within seven days.
- Renter with no heat? Written notice to the landlord, thermometer photos, board of health inspection.
Frequently asked questions
Can the electric company shut off my power in winter in Massachusetts?
Not between November 15 and March 15 if the service is used for heat and you cannot pay because of financial hardship, and you claim the protection. Separate year-round protections apply for serious illness, an infant under 12 months, and households where all residents are 65 or older.
When does the Massachusetts winter shutoff moratorium start?
November 15. It runs through March 15. It protects only customers whose service was not already shut off for nonpayment before November 15.
What counts as financial hardship for the shutoff protection?
Under 220 CMR 25.01, being unable to pay an overdue bill while meeting the income limits for fuel assistance (LIHEAP/HEAP), or a finding by the DPU’s Consumer Division.
Can my oil company refuse to deliver?
Yes. Oil and propane dealers are not covered by utility shutoff protections. Fuel assistance and the new middle-income oil benefit are the main sources of help.
What temperature does a Massachusetts landlord have to keep the apartment?
At least 68 degrees from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 64 degrees overnight, from September 15 through May 31, in every habitable room and bathroom, unless the tenant pays for heat under a written agreement and separate meter.
What can I do if my landlord won’t turn on the heat?
Notify the landlord in writing, document the temperatures, and request a board of health inspection. A landlord who willfully fails to provide required heat can be prosecuted and is liable for the greater of actual damages or three months’ rent under G.L. c. 186, section 14.
Sources: G.L. c. 164, sections 1F, 124E and 124F, and c. 186, section 14, read at malegislature.gov; 220 CMR 25.01, 25.03 and 25.05, 105 CMR 410.180 and 410.200, and 940 CMR 3.18 read at law.cornell.edu; governor’s energy emergency announcement as published by NBC10 Boston, October 5, 2026. Utility discount and arrearage program details vary by company; confirm with yours. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.