Minnesota

MNStrong

Days notice (electric)

Days notice (gas)

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Winter moratorium

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Medical exemption

What to do today

If you have a shutoff notice, the date on it is the one that matters. These steps work best in this order.

Call your utility before the date on your notice
Ask for a payment plan or a deferred payment arrangement. Most states require your utility to offer one, and asking before the date is what keeps your service on. The number is on your bill.
Apply for energy assistance
LIHEAP helps with utility bills and does not have to be paid back. Call the national referral line on 1-866-674-6327 weekdays 9am to 7pm Eastern, or visit energyhelp.us.
Dial 211 for local help
211 is free and connects you to local funds for utilities, rent and food. Some local agencies can pay a utility directly to stop a shutoff.
Ask about medical certification
Minnesota recognises medical protections. If anyone in your home has a serious illness or relies on powered medical equipment, a note from a doctor can delay a shutoff. Ask your utility for the form today, because it usually has to be back within days.
Contact the regulator if your utility will not work with you
mn.gov handles complaints against regulated utilities in Minnesota. Filing one can pause a disconnection while it is looked at.

Electric Gas Water Medical Low Income Regulator

Electric Shutoff Rules

Regulatory notice required10 days

Reconnection fee$13.50 to $20 standard, at 2 of 3 utilities below

Winter moratorium: October 1–April 30 (Cold Weather Rule): utilities cannot disconnect residential natural gas or electric service used for heating during these months. Applies to all residential customers — not income-limited. Customers must contact utility and establish a reasonable payment plan based on financial circumstances. Households with income ≤50% of state median income: utility MUST NOT disconnect and must reconnect if disconnected.

Major Utilities

Xcel Energy (Nort…Minnesota Power (…Otter Tail Power …

Xcel Energy (Northern States Power)

Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro area and much of central and western Minnesota

7(c) (the statewide Cold Weather Rule, Oct 1-Apr 30) requires that a utility not disconnect service "earlier than ten working days after [it] has deposited in first class mail... the notice." That figure is confirmed on a live statute page but the statute is generic to every Minnesota utility and never names Xcel specifically, and this pass could not find an Xcel-specific, non-client-rendered document confirming the same figure (Xcel's own Minnesota Cold Weather Rule page renders entirely client-side and returns no readable text to this pipeline)

It is also unclear whether the same 10-day figure governs Xcel's practice outside the Cold Weather Rule period (May-Sept)

Under the Minnesota Cold Weather Rule, service cannot be disconnected when temperatures are forecast below 32F within 24 hours

216B.096, subd

Minnesota's older general notice rule, Minn

7820.2400 ("at least five days"), sits in a chapter whose substantive discontinuance-of-service provisions were otherwise repealed in 2007, so it is not clear it still controls. notice_days is null rather than repeating the previous 10, which this pass could not confirm with the same confidence as the other figures in this row

Disconnection notices are not triggered until past-due balance reaches $180

actual disconnection does not proceed until past-due balance reaches $300, after a roughly nine-week outreach effort (phone, email, mail, bill notices, and potentially an in-person visit), confirmed via Xcel's own consumer-facing materials

The residential electric price schedule sets the reconnection charge at $13.50 for customers with a standard AMI meter and $95 for customers on Manual Meter Reading Service, effective January 1, 2025 (up from $50 for Manual Meter Reading Service before that date)

income-qualified customers (at or below 50% of state median income) must be offered a payment plan capped at 10% of monthly household income

Reconnection fee:$13.50 (smart meter/AMI) or $95 (manual meter)

Assistance Programs

Minnesota Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP/EAP); POWER On Program; Gas Affordability Program; HeatShare (Salvation Army); Medical Affordability Program

"Xcel Energy Minnesota Residential Electric Prices (MN-Res-E-2002)." xcelenergy.com. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Minnesota Power (ALLETE)

Northeastern Minnesota including Duluth, Iron Range, and Arrowhead region

10-day notice

Under the Minnesota Cold Weather Rule (Oct 1-Apr 30), income-qualified customers (at or below 50% of state median income) cannot be charged more than 10% of monthly household income toward heating bills

Minnesota Power requires a minimum past-due balance of $200 that is 54 or more days late before the formal disconnection notice process begins

after notice is issued, customers have 10 calendar days to pay or establish a payment plan before service is cut (confirmed on Minnesota Power's Disconnection Policy customer page)

The MPUC-filed Electric Rate Book, Section VI, Regulation 20A, sets the Service Reconnection Fee at $20.00 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m

Monday through Friday and $100.00 after 4:30 p.m., before 8:00 a.m., and on weekends and legal holidays

the fee is waived for customers reconnected remotely under the AMI Remote Service Reconnection pilot rider

Reconnection fee:$20 (business hours) or $100 (after hours/weekends/holidays); waived for AMI remote reconnect

Assistance Programs

Minnesota Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP/EAP); CARE Program; Energy Partners Program; HeatShare (Salvation Army)

"Minnesota Power Electric Rate Book, Volume I, Section VI (MPUC Docket No. E015/M-18-250)." mnpower.com. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Otter Tail Power Company

West-central Minnesota and eastern North Dakota (Alexandria, Fergus Falls, Bemidji areas)

10-day notice

Under the Minnesota Cold Weather Rule (Oct 1–Apr 30), customers can call 800-257-4044 to apply for Cold Weather Rule protection

Otter Tail Power follows Minnesota PUC rules (Minn

Rules Ch

7820), which require at least 5 business days written notice (approximately 10 calendar days) before disconnection may occur

income-qualified customers (≤50% state median income) are entitled to payment terms capped at 10% of monthly household income

The company states it will never request upfront payment of a reconnection fee to restore service

Assistance Programs

Minnesota Energy Assistance Program (EAP/LIHEAP); Uplift Program; HeatShare (Salvation Army)

"Minnesota Cold Weather Rule | Otter Tail Power Company." otpco.com. Retrieved 16 May 2026.

Gas Shutoff Rules

Regulatory notice required10 days

Reconnection fee$22.50 to $30 standard, at 2 of 3 utilities below

Major Utilities

CenterPoint Energ…Minnesota Energy …Xcel Energy (Nort…

CenterPoint Energy (formerly Minnegasco)

Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area and southern Minnesota natural gas distribution

10-day notice

Under the Minnesota Cold Weather Rule (Oct 1-Apr 30), customers who enter into and keep a mutually acceptable payment agreement cannot have gas heating service disconnected

The previously cited URL (cold-weather-rule-MN.aspx) now redirects to a generic My Account page with none of this content

re-sourced to CenterPoint's current Cold Weather Rule page

CenterPoint Energy Minnesota follows Minnesota PUC rules (Minn

7820.2400, verified directly against the rule text at revisor.mn.gov: notice must precede disconnection by at least 5 days excluding Sundays and legal holidays), implemented in practice as a 10-day notice

customers receiving Energy Assistance, or meeting state income guidelines with proof of income, are not required to pay more than 10% of monthly household income

Customers have 10 working days to appeal payment plan terms to the Minnesota PUC, which then has 20 working days to decide

service stays on or is reconnected during the appeal

Assistance Programs

Minnesota Energy Assistance Program (EAP/LIHEAP); Gas Affordability Program (payments capped at 6% of income); HeatShare (Salvation Army)

"Minnesota Cold Weather Rule | CenterPoint Energy." centerpointenergy.com. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Minnesota Energy Resources Corporation

Greater Minnesota natural gas service — Rochester, Mankato, St. Cloud, and other outstate communities

10-day notice

Under the Minnesota Cold Weather Rule (Oct 1-Apr 30), the company provides protection from disconnection for customers who enter into payment agreements

Minnesota Energy Resources follows Minnesota PUC rules under Minn

the company's own filed tariff (Section 10) requires written disconnection notice to precede shutoff by at least 5 days excluding Sundays and legal holidays

Section 12 of the same tariff sets the reconnection fee at $30.00 for standard nonpayment disconnection (up to a $45.00 maximum outside normal business hours), or $100.00 plus disconnection/reconnection costs for other-cause disconnections such as tampering or unauthorized use

no fee applies if the disconnection was for a hazardous condition

income-qualified customers are eligible for the Energy Assistance Program

Deposits are returned within 45 days of disconnection (Section 9.A), confirmed verbatim in the same tariff

The previously cited lieap page is a client-rendered shell with no policy text

re-sourced to the filed tariff

Reconnection fee:$30.00 (standard nonpayment reconnection, up to $45.00 outside normal business hours); $100.00 plus disconnection/reconnection costs for certain other-cause disconnections (tampering, unauthorized use, etc.); waived when disconnection was for a hazardous condition

Assistance Programs

Energy Assistance Program (EAP/LIHEAP — grants of $200–$1,400); Gas Affordability Program (GAP); HeatShare (Salvation Army); Medical Emergency Protection

"Minnesota Energy Resources Corporation Tariff and Rate Book, General Rules, Sections 9-12 (Docket No. G011/GR-17-563, effective July 1, 2019)." minnesotaenergyresources.com. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Xcel Energy (Northern States Power) — Natural Gas

Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro area and much of central and western Minnesota (gas service)

216B.096 confirms a ten-working-day Cold Weather Rule (Oct 1-Apr 30) mail-notice figure on a generic, non-Xcel-specific statute page, and no Xcel-specific readable document confirming it (or confirming what applies outside that window) could be found this pass. notice_days is null rather than repeating the previous 10

Under the Minnesota Cold Weather Rule, gas service cannot be disconnected when temperatures are forecast below 32F in the next 24 hours

Same disconnection notice framework as Xcel electric in this state's electric.md (see that row for the full citation discussion): Minn

The notice process is not triggered until past-due balance is at least $180 and disconnection not pursued until balance exceeds $300

The gas price schedule sets a flat Reconnection Charge of $22.50, not the $13.50/$95 AMI-tiered fee that applies to electric service

that figure was copied from the electric row in error in an earlier pass and was already corrected here

A $100 Relock Charge applies after unauthorized reconnection

income-qualified customers (at or below 50% of state median income) are offered payment plans capped at 10% of monthly household income

Customers have 10 working days to appeal payment plan terms to the Minnesota PUC

service remains active during appeal

Reconnection fee:$22.50

Assistance Programs

Minnesota Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP/EAP); Gas Affordability Program; HeatShare (Salvation Army); Medical Affordability Program

"Xcel Energy Minnesota Residential Natural Gas Prices (MN-RES-G-2004)." xcelenergy.com. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Water Shutoff Rules

Regulatory notice requiredNot regulated / varies

Major Utilities

City of Minneapol…Saint Paul Region…

City of Minneapolis — Minneapolis Water Services

City of Minneapolis and portions of suburban communities

Minneapolis water service shutoff rules are governed by City Code Chapter 505

The city's 2022 Council-adopted Schedule Nine fee schedule lists a $62.00 'Water Turn-On or Shut-Off' service fee

the $90 figure previously shown here could not be reconfirmed because the city's Start/Restart/Shutoff consumer page renders its content client-side and returns only navigation to this tool, and no more recent fee schedule PDF could be fetched (the 2026 Utility Rate Resolution on lims.minneapolismn.gov returns HTTP 403)

The $62.00 figure is itself four years old and may have been adjusted since

treat it as the best confirmed figure available, not a current guarantee

Customers must complete a Water Release Form before restoration

Specific advance written notice day requirements before initial shutoff are established by city ordinance (Title 19, Chapter 509) but were not confirmed from a working source this pass

Reconnection fee:$62.00 (Water Turn-On or Shut-Off fee, per the city's 2022 Council-adopted utility fee schedule; not independently reconfirmed for a later year)

Assistance Programs

2-1-1 United Way utility bill assistance; Salvation Army emergency assistance; payment plans (612-673-5600)

"City of Minneapolis Schedule Nine, Utility Fees Schedule (2022 Council Adopted Budget)." minneapolismn.gov. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS)

City of Saint Paul and approximately 10 surrounding suburban communities in Ramsey and Washington Counties

Saint Paul Regional Water Services assesses a $50 water shut off/turn on fee, incurred for shutoffs due to code violation, nonpayment, or customer requests (construction, seasonal shutoff, emergency)

SPRWS is a municipal utility not subject to MN PUC Cold Weather Rule requirements in the same manner as investor-owned utilities

A previously noted $15 property-tax certification fee could not be reconfirmed on this page and is not restated here

A late fee of 5% of total current charges applies if a bill is unpaid within 30 days of the bill date

A returned check/insufficient funds fee of $30 also applies

Reconnection fee:$50

Assistance Programs

WaterWorks Program (up to $300 assistance via Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties); United Way 2-1-1; Salvation Army

"Rates and Fees | Saint Paul Regional Water Services." stpaul.gov. Retrieved 21 Sep 2026.

Medical & Vulnerable Household Exemptions

Medical conditions provide additional protection beyond the Cold Weather Rule. If a household member's health or safety depends on uninterrupted service, utilities must accommodate before disconnecting.

Low-Income Protections

Minnesota Energy Assistance Program (EAP) / LIHEAP administered by MN Department of Commerce. Xcel Energy and other utilities offer Conservation Improvement Programs and low-income bill assistance. Cold Weather Rule income threshold provides strongest protection for lowest-income households.

Your State Regulator

File a complaint or get help from Minnesota's utility regulator →

Data last verified: 2026-09-21. Rules may change — verify with your state regulator.