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

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North Dakota program

A medical stay of a regulated power or gas shutoff

A temporary pause on a regulated electric or gas shutoff when someone at home has a dangerous health condition.

What it is

A temporary pause on a regulated electric or gas shutoff when someone at home has a dangerous health condition.

Losing power or gas can put a medically vulnerable child at risk. North Dakota’s regulated utility rules allow a short stay of termination. The utility type and timing of the notice decide whether this route applies.

Eligibility rules
  • The rules cover electric and gas utilities regulated by the Public Service Commission. Government-owned and identified nonprofit/cooperative utilities generally fall outside its rate jurisdiction.
What you get
  • A possible shutoff stay of up to 30 days. The regulated utility confirms the actual end date.
What the help includes
  • A hold delays shutoff; it does not erase the unpaid bill.
If you decide to apply
  1. If you decide to request the hold, use the utility’s notice contact to describe the dangerous health condition.
  2. Have the notice and medical information ready, and ask for written confirmation of any hold.

The utility company · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Tell the utility about the health danger within 10 days of the shutoff notice; it can then hold the shutoff for up to 30 days. There is no set form, so ask what it wants from the clinic and get the end date in writing. The bill still needs a payment plan, and missing that plan can bring a shutoff without another notice. City and co-op utilities have their own rules.
Good to know

The reporting window is ten days from the notice. City-owned utilities and rural cooperatives may have different rules.

Other details
  • LIHEAP is a separate conversation about paying energy costs. A medical hold addresses the shutoff date.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“If a shutoff would put our child at risk, could this hold apply to our utility? What proof and payment arrangement would be needed, and could you help request it?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the protection available if we receive a shutoff notice.

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 inside the ten days and ask for the stay in writing.

Your social worker

The utility records the health condition and holds the shutoff.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The utility company.
Ask the agency
“There is a dangerous health condition in my home. I am asking you to stay this termination for 30 days under the Commission’s rules.”

How to apply

First step: Call the number on the notice today and ask for the stay, then apply for heating help.

  1. Call the utility the day the notice arrives, inside the ten days.
  2. Say there is a dangerous health condition in the home and ask for the stay in writing.
  3. Use the 30 days to apply for LIHEAP and set up a payment plan.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call the number on the shutoff notice the day it arrives.

What to gather

  • The shutoff notice
  • Any evidence the utility actually requests about the dangerous health condition; the cited rule does not mandate a particular certificate

How long: Up to 30 days.

What a yes looks like

The company records the stay and gives a new date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Often because the company is not regulated by the Commission, or the ten days had passed. Ask which.

Watch out

  • The ten days run from the notice, so call the day it lands.
  • Rural co-operatives and city-owned utilities may sit outside these rules. Ask yours.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

A health-related stay of up to 30 days, when a dangerous condition is reported within 10 calendar days of mailing or personal delivery of the notice; this is not a guaranteed 40-day period.

  • $30 — Maximum stay of termination
  • $10 — Window to report the dangerous health condition, from the notice

Legal protection: A stay of termination for up to 30 days on a reported dangerous health condition · A duty on customers to tell the utility about emergency medical needs and life-sustaining equipment

What it costs the family: Nothing, but the bill is still owed.

The eligibility facts, as published

Utility
electric and gas companies the Public Service Commission regulates; government-owned and identified nonprofit or cooperative utilities are generally outside its rate jurisdiction
Timing
the customer must tell the utility within the ten-day notice period
Statute
NDAC 69-09-02 (electric), 69-09-01 (gas)

The trap: The ten days run from the notice, so call the day it arrives. Also tell the utility now about life-sustaining equipment in the home, before anything goes wrong.

Where I read this

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