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

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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Missouri program

A medical hold on a utility shutoff

A regulated utility must delay shutoff when it would worsen an existing medical emergency at home.

What it is

A regulated utility must delay shutoff when it would worsen an existing medical emergency at home.

A medical hold can give a household time when losing utility service would worsen an emergency. The utility can require evidence. Separate weather rules restrict some heating and cooling shutoffs.

Eligibility rules
  • An existing household medical emergency must be made worse by the disconnection. The utility may request reasonable evidence.
What you get
  • Up to 21 days’ postponement of a qualifying shutoff.
  • Separate protections on specified very cold or hot forecast days.
What the help includes
  • The cold-weather period is November 1–March 31, with conditional restrictions based on forecasts below 32°F. It is not a season-long ban.
  • From June to September, a regulated utility cannot cut power on a day the forecast is over 95°F (or a heat index over 105°F) in the next three days.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the utility about a medical postponement and what written evidence it needs.
  2. Ask the hospital to document how disconnection would worsen the existing medical emergency.

The utility, under the Public Service Commission's rules · Official page ↗

After you apply
  • The utility may ask for reasonable evidence that disconnection would worsen an existing medical emergency. The PSC rule allows up to 21 days, without an automatic renewal right. The utility confirms the evidence, end date and any payment arrangement.
Good to know

A medical hold does not erase the bill or guarantee renewal. Municipal and cooperative utilities need a separate policy check.

Other details
  • Cold-weather disability registration is separate. Where it applies, a qualifying Social Security disability award or physician’s statement can support registration, with annual renewal by October 1. The PSC medical rule and separate hot-weather statute have different scope rules.
  • Medical-hold rule: 20 CSR 4240-13.050(10), chapter dated February 28, 2026. Hot-weather statute: RSMo 393.108, August 28, 2025 edition.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“If our utilities were at risk, would our child’s medical needs support a hold? What limits would remain, and could you help with the evidence if we need it?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know what protection exists if losing utility service would make a medical emergency worse.

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 the day the notice arrives and follow up in writing.

Your social worker

The oncology team writes the letter.

The care team

A clinician's statement is the usual evidence.

Who decides
The utility
Ask the agency
“We have a disconnection notice. My child is in cancer treatment at home. I am asking for the medical postponement under the Commission's rules, and I can send a letter from the hospital.”

How to apply

First step: If a notice arrives, call the utility that day and ask for the medical postponement, then get a letter from the oncology team.

  1. Call the utility the day the notice arrives and ask for the medical postponement.
  2. Ask the oncology team for a letter the same week.
  3. Use the 21 days to get energy crisis help in place.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call the utility, say there is a medical emergency in the house, and ask for the postponement in writing. Get the hospital to put the evidence on paper.

What to gather

The diagnosis letter, the child’s insurance card, and the last two pay stubs cover most applications. The official page lists the rest.

How long: Up to 21 days.

What a yes looks like

A new disconnection date at least three weeks out, and time to get crisis help.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If the utility says it is not regulated by the commission, ask what its own medical policy is and get that answer in writing.

Watch out

  • It postpones the shutoff; it does not cancel the bill.
  • City and cooperative utilities may not be covered: ask yours.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Up to 21 days' postponement of a disconnection that would make a medical emergency worse.

  • $21 — Maximum postponement of a disconnection on medical grounds

Legal protection: A regulated utility must postpone a disconnection up to 21 days where it would aggravate an existing medical emergency · Heating disconnections are restricted November to March on a forecast below 32 degrees · Cooling disconnections are restricted June to September on a forecast above 95 degrees or a heat index above 105 · A customer with a disability can register with the utility with a physician's statement, renewing by October 1 each year

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Condition
an existing medical emergency in the household that the disconnection would aggravate; the utility may ask for reasonable evidence
Applicability
utilities under Public Service Commission jurisdiction. Whether municipal and cooperative utilities do the same was not established.
Residency
Missouri

The trap: This is a postponement, not a cancellation, and the bill still has to be dealt with inside the 21 days. Who has to sign the evidence, and how many times it can be renewed, are not in the rule.

Where I read this

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