Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Kansas program

Before the power goes off

Kansas protections against some utility shutoffs during cold weather or danger to health.

What it is

Kansas protections against some utility shutoffs during cold weather or danger to health.

A shutoff can threaten care at home. Kansas has protections for customers of utilities regulated by the Corporation Commission. The supplier and the medical circumstances decide which protection applies.

Eligibility rules
  • The rules concern residential electricity, natural gas and water from Commission-regulated utilities.
What you get
  • A hold on qualifying cold-weather disconnections.
  • Installments or at least 21 days under the health-danger provision.
What the help includes
  • From November 1 through March 31, the cold-weather rule bars disconnection when the forecast is below 35°F within 48 hours.
  • If losing power would be dangerous for your child and you cannot pay the whole bill, a regulated utility must offer instalments or hold off for at least 21 days.
  • The utility must offer reasonable installments or postpone disconnection for at least 21 days; this is not an automatic 21-day extension on top of any payment plan and does not erase the debt.
  • The utility must explain the evidence or medical certification it needs under its tariff and the payment terms.
  • Municipal utilities and cooperatives generally use their own rules rather than this KCC protection.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your utility about the health-danger provision and a written payment arrangement.
  2. Have the utility account, any shutoff notice and a clinic letter describing the health danger ready.

The utility, under the Commission’s rules · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The utility decides the payment arrangement under the Commission’s billing standards.
Good to know

This is not a blanket medical ban on shutoffs. Municipal utilities and cooperatives are generally outside Commission regulation.

Other details
  • The care team can explain why loss of service would be dangerous. A request before the scheduled shutoff gives the utility time to review it.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Would our utility’s health-danger or cold-weather rules protect service at home? What payment obligations remain, and could you help us request the right arrangement?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand how to keep the utilities needed for safe care at home.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Call before the disconnection date and ask for the arrangement in writing.

Your social worker

The clinic can write a letter saying the child is in treatment at home.

The care team

A letter from the treating team supports the health-danger case.

Who decides
The utility, under the Commission’s billing standards.
Ask the agency
“We have a child in cancer treatment at home and a disconnection notice. What payment arrangement can you set up, and does the health-danger provision apply?”

How to apply

First step: Call the utility the day a notice arrives and ask for a payment arrangement in writing.

  1. Call the utility the day a notice arrives and ask for a payment arrangement in writing.
  2. Check whether your supplier is state regulated or a city or cooperative supplier.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call the utility, say a child at home is ill and ask for the health-danger provision and a payment arrangement.

What to gather

  • The disconnection notice
  • A letter from the clinic saying the child is in treatment at home

How long: Cold Weather Rule season is November 1–March 31. The separate qualifying health-danger route provides reasonable installments or postponement of at least 21 days.

What a yes looks like

A written payment arrangement or a postponed disconnection date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether your supplier is state regulated, and complain to the Commission if it is.

Watch out

  • The current KCC page still links the 2012 billing standard. Its health-danger protection is conditional, does not cancel the bill, and gives installments OR at least 21 days, not both automatically.
  • City utilities and cooperatives are generally outside the Commission’s reach. Ask your supplier directly.
  • Call before the disconnection date; afterwards is harder.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

No disconnection between 1 November and 31 March when the forecast is below 35 degrees within 48 hours, and instalments or at least 21 days where going without would be dangerous to health.

Legal protection: Cold Weather Rule from November 1 to March 31 for covered residential gas and electric service from KCC-regulated utilities. · No disconnection when the forecast is below 35 degrees within the next 48 hours, subject to exceptions · For KCC-regulated residential electricity, gas or water, established special health danger to a permanent resident and inability to pay in full require reasonable installments OR postponement of at least 21 days.

What it costs the family: Nothing to ask.

The eligibility facts, as published

Scope
residential electricity, natural gas and water customers of utilities the Kansas Corporation Commission regulates; municipal utilities and cooperatives are generally outside it
Residency
Kansas

The trap: The current KCC page still links the 2012 billing standard. Its health-danger protection is conditional, does not cancel the bill, and gives installments OR at least 21 days, not both automatically.

Where I read this

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