South Dakota

SDModerate

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
South Dakota 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
puc.sd.gov handles complaints against regulated utilities in South Dakota. Filing one can pause a disconnection while it is looked at.

Electric Gas Water Medical Low Income Regulator

Electric Shutoff Rules

Regulatory notice requiredNot regulated / varies

Reconnection feeVaries by utility

Winter moratorium: November 1–March 31: investor-owned utilities must provide an additional 30 days beyond standard notice before disconnecting. Medical certificate from a physician, public health official, or social services official also provides 30-day postponement. Applies to IOUs (Black Hills Energy, MidAmerican, MDU, NorthWestern, Otter Tail, Xcel). Rural Electric Cooperatives and Municipal Utilities governed by their own elected boards. Notice period not independently verified from primary PSC source.

Major Utilities

Northern States P…Black Hills Energ…

Northern States Power Company (Xcel Energy)

Eastern South Dakota including Sioux Falls, Watertown, Brookings, and Aberdeen areas; investor-owned utility regulated by the SD Public Utilities Commission, subsidiary of Xcel Energy

10-day notice

Nov 1-Mar 31 residential winter disconnections require an additional 30 days beyond the normal date (20:10:20:10)

Governed statewide by S.D

Admin

20:10:20:03, which applies to gas and electric utilities regulated by the SD PUC (Chapter 20:10:20, 'Refusal and disconnection of gas and electric service')

That rule requires (1) a payment period of not less than 20 days from bill transmittal to due date, plus (2) an additional notice period of not less than 10 days during which the bill has been owing, before disconnection is permitted

recorded notice_days as 10, the explicitly stated additional notice period, not the combined ~30-day cycle which the rule does not itself state as a single figure

No disconnection Fri/Sat/Sun/holidays or when offices are closed (20:10:20:06)

CORRECTED: the prior draft's $35.00 reconnection fee was pulled from a Sheet effective 8/1/2012 that has since been superseded twice via PUC Docket EL23-028 (order 12/8/2023): the $35 rate applied only 'through December 31, 2023,' dropped to $17.50 for AMI-metered residential/small-commercial customers (with $35 for demand-billed/other) effective 1/1/2024, and rose again to $150 for the demand-billed/other tier effective 1/1/2026 while the AMI tier stayed $17.50

As of today's date the 1/1/2026 tier applies

Confirmed directly against the PUC's own docket tariff pages, not the utility's marketing site

Reconnection fee:$17.50 Service Reconnection Charge for residential customers (and Small General Service/Small General Time-of-Day commercial customers) with a standard AMI meter; $150.00 for demand-billed customers ineligible for remote connect and all other customers, effective Jan 1, 2026; a separate $100.00 Service Relock Charge applies if the customer relocks service without Company authorization after disconnection; also a $12.00 Service Processing Charge for new/initial service establishment (SDPUC Docket EL23-028, tariff Sheet No. 6-3/6-3.1, final revision filed 12/15/2023, order 12/8/2023)

Assistance Programs

LIHEAP (federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) via SD Dept. of Social Services; utility also references energy assistance program referrals in its tariff customer-data provisions.

"SDPUC Docket EL23-028, Final Revised Tariff Pages (South Dakota Electric Rate Book, SDPUC No. 2, Sheet Nos. 6-3/6-3.1), filed 12/15/2023; statewide notice rule at S.D. Admin. R. 20:10:20:03 (law.cornell.edu)." puc.sd.gov. Retrieved 22 Sep 2026.

Black Hills Energy (Black Hills Power)

Western South Dakota including Rapid City and the Black Hills region; investor-owned utility regulated by the SD Public Utilities Commission, subsidiary of Black Hills Corporation

10-day notice

Winter (Nov 1-Mar 31) disconnections require an additional 30 days

Same statewide rule applies as to Northern States Power: S.D

Admin

20:10:20:03 requires a 20-day billing-to-due-date payment period plus an additional notice period of not less than 10 days (bill owing) before disconnection, under Chapter 20:10:20 governing SD-PUC-regulated gas and electric utilities

disconnection barred on Fri/Sat/Sun/holidays

This is the statewide administrative rule rather than a Black Hills Energy-specific tariff fetched in this pass, so a company-specific reconnection fee was not confirmed

Confidence is medium, the same as Northern States Power's row, because both rest on the identical statewide rule (S.D

Admin

20:10:20:03) with no utility-specific reconnection-fee tariff confirmed

a company should not be marked lower confidence than another resting on the same evidence

Assistance Programs

LIHEAP via SD Dept. of Social Services; Black Hills Energy also publicizes its own low-income/energy-assistance referral program on its customer-service pages (not independently verified in this pass).

"S.D. Admin. R. 20:10:20:03 (Nonpayment of past due bills as reason for disconnection)." law.cornell.edu. Retrieved 22 Sep 2026.

Gas Shutoff Rules

Regulatory notice requiredNot regulated / varies

Reconnection feeVaries by utility

Major Utilities

NorthWestern Energy

Natural gas service in eastern South Dakota

10-day notice

Written notice of intent to disconnect, and personal notice (phone/visit/certified mail) on a customer's first disconnection, are also required (20:10:20:03(3))

Nov 1-Mar 31 winter disconnections require an additional 30 days (20:10:20:10)

Governed statewide by S.D

Admin

20:10:20:03, the same Chapter 20:10:20 rule that applies to gas and electric utilities regulated by the SD PUC

Requires a 20-day billing-to-due-date payment period plus an additional notice period of not less than 10 days (bill owing) before disconnection

recorded notice_days as 10 (the additional stated notice period), not a computed total

No disconnection Fri/Sat/Sun/holidays (20:10:20:06)

A NorthWestern Energy-specific reconnection fee tariff was not located/fetched in this pass

Confidence is medium, the same as Northern States Power's row, because both rest on the identical statewide rule (S.D

Admin

20:10:20:03) with no utility-specific reconnection-fee tariff confirmed

a company should not be marked lower confidence than another resting on the same evidence

Assistance Programs

LIHEAP via SD Dept. of Social Services.

"S.D. Admin. R. 20:10:20:03 (Nonpayment of past due bills as reason for disconnection)." law.cornell.edu. Retrieved 22 Sep 2026.

Water Shutoff Rules

Regulatory notice requiredNot regulated / varies

Medical & Vulnerable Household Exemptions

Medical certificate from a licensed physician, public health official, or social services official postpones disconnection for 30 days.

Low-Income Protections

LIHEAP administered through SD DLR / Community Action agencies. Black Hills Energy and Xcel offer low-income assistance.

Your State Regulator

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

Data last verified: 2026-09-22. Rules may change — verify with your state regulator.