When the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory for your Texas county, or issued one on either of the two preceding calendar days, that day is an extreme weather emergency under PUCT rules, and your retail electricity provider is prohibited from disconnecting your service for non-payment. This article explains exactly when that moratorium applies, what the underlying rule requires, and what steps to take if your account is past due heading into a dangerous stretch of heat.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) sets the disconnection rules that all retail electric providers (REPs) operating in the deregulated market must follow. Rule 25.483, titled "Disconnection of Service," includes specific language restricting disconnection during periods of extreme heat.

Under Rule 25.483, a REP may not authorize disconnection for nonpayment for any customer in a county when the previous day's highest temperature did not exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to remain at or below that level for the next 24 hours anywhere in the county, according to the nearest National Weather Service reports. That portion covers winter. The heat-side protection works differently: a REP may not authorize disconnection for nonpayment for any customer in a county on a day when the National Weather Service (NWS) issues a heat advisory for that county, or on a day when such an advisory was issued on either of the two preceding calendar days.

This means the trigger is tied to official NWS advisories, not to a provider's internal judgment or a customer's subjective assessment of how hot it is. If the NWS has issued a heat advisory covering your county, your provider cannot legally disconnect you that day.

What Counts as a "Heat Advisory" Under the Rule

The NWS issues several heat-related products, but Rule 25.483 names only one of them (a heat advisory) as the heat-side trigger. The designations to know are:

  • Extreme Heat Warning (renamed from Excessive Heat Warning effective March 4, 2025): Issued when extremely dangerous heat is expected or occurring. Generic guidance is a maximum heat index of about 105 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for at least two days with nighttime lows not falling below about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but each NWS forecast office sets its own local criteria.
  • Heat Advisory: Issued within about 12 hours of the onset of dangerous heat conditions, generally when the heat index is expected to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for at least two days with nighttime lows not falling below 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Thresholds are set locally and vary by NWS forecast office.
  • Extreme Heat Watch (renamed from Excessive Heat Watch effective March 4, 2025): Issued when conditions are favorable for an extreme heat event in the next 24 to 72 hours.

Because the rule's text names only a heat advisory, it does not expressly address a county placed under an Extreme Heat Warning with no heat advisory in effect. In practice the NWS often issues both products for the same area in the same message, and §25.483(j)(2) leaves it to each transmission and distribution utility to determine and report the days on which an extreme weather emergency has been issued for a county in its service area. If your county is under an extreme heat warning and you do not see a heat advisory, ask your provider (and, if needed, the PUCT) whether that day is being treated as an extreme weather emergency. Customers should monitor NWS forecasts for their specific NWS forecast zone, not just a city-level temperature forecast from a weather app. The NWS website (weather.gov) shows active advisories by county.

Separately, the protection does not end the instant an advisory lapses. Because the rule also covers days on which a heat advisory was issued on either of the two preceding calendar days, the moratorium carries forward for two additional calendar days after an advisory is issued.

What the Moratorium Does and Does Not Cover

The heat disconnection moratorium protects residential customers from service termination for non-payment during covered periods. It does not:

  • Erase a past-due balance. The amount owed continues to accrue.
  • Prevent disconnection for reasons other than non-payment, such as tampering with equipment or fraud.
  • Exclude business accounts. The §25.483(j) prohibition covers any customer in an affected county, and the deferred payment plan right attached to it, for bills that become due during an extreme weather emergency, likewise covers customers generally rather than residential customers only.
  • Extend indefinitely. Once a heat advisory is issued, protection continues for that day and the two following calendar days; after that window closes with no new advisory, normal disconnection rules resume.

The rule is written in whole-day terms. Section 25.483(j)(1) defines an extreme weather emergency as "a day when" the NWS issues a heat advisory for a county (or has issued one on any one of the preceding two calendar days), and §25.483(j)(2) requires the transmission and distribution utility to notify the commission on each day it determines that an emergency has been issued for a county in its service area. The rule text does not spell out how to treat a disconnection carried out earlier on a day an advisory was issued later. Do not assume the hour excuses it: if you were disconnected on a calendar day that an advisory was issued for your county, raise the timing with your provider and, if it is not resolved, with the PUCT.

How Many Days Does the Moratorium Actually Run?

Texas summers routinely produce multi-day heat events. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin have all recorded stretches of 10 or more consecutive days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in recent years. During those stretches, a residential customer who is past due on a bill may effectively be protected from disconnection for the entire duration, as long as NWS heat advisories continue to be issued for the county, including the two-calendar-day carryover after each advisory.

This is meaningful protection. A household that cannot pay a July bill can remain connected through the hottest stretch of the summer. However, the balance does not disappear, and once the heat event ends, the provider can resume normal collection and disconnection procedures with proper notice.

What to Do If Your Account Is Past Due Before a Heat Event

The moratorium is a legal floor, not a financial solution. Customers who are past due should take concrete steps rather than wait for an advisory to arrive.

First, verify the current advisory status. Go to weather.gov and check your county. If a heat advisory has been issued for your county that day, or on either of the two preceding calendar days, your provider cannot disconnect you that day. Keep a record of the advisory, including the date and time you checked.

Second, contact your provider directly. All REPs are required under PUCT rules to offer a deferred payment plan upon request in specific circumstances, including for bills that become due during an extreme weather emergency, for customers in an area covered by a state of disaster declared by the governor when the commission directs REPs to offer them, and for customers who have been under-billed by $50 or more. A deferred payment plan (sometimes called a DPP) allows a customer to pay a past-due balance in installments rather than all at once. Outside those mandatory situations, many REPs still offer discretionary payment arrangements, so it is worth asking. The request must generally be made before disconnection occurs.

Third, contact the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP provides federally funded bill-payment assistance to qualifying low-income households in Texas. The program is administered through local subrecipients, including community action agencies, private nonprofit organizations, and units of local government. Application procedures vary by local provider, but income eligibility is set statewide at 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) delivers LIHEAP funds through the Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) and maintains a current list of local providers at tdhca.texas.gov.

Fourth, check whether your utility area has additional protections. Some Texas municipal utilities and electric cooperatives operate under different rules than the PUCT-regulated deregulated market. If your provider is a co-op or municipal utility, the rules may differ. Customers in deregulated areas served by investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities (such as Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, or Texas-New Mexico Power) are covered under PUCT Rule 25.483.

When to File a Complaint With the PUCT

If a REP disconnects service on a day when a heat advisory is issued for your county, or on either of the two calendar days following such an advisory, that is a potential violation of Rule 25.483. The PUCT operates a customer protection hotline and an online complaint form at puc.texas.gov.

Before filing, document the following:

  • The date and time of disconnection.
  • A screenshot or printout of the active NWS advisory for your county on that date.
  • Any correspondence from your provider, including notices or automated messages.
  • The name and representative ID of any provider representative you spoke with.

The PUCT has authority to investigate complaints and impose penalties on providers who violate disconnection rules. Filing a complaint does not guarantee reconnection within hours, but it creates a record and may accelerate resolution.

Timing: When to Switch Providers (and When Not To)

A customer who is currently past due and relying on the heat moratorium for protection is generally not in a good position to switch providers. Switching does not eliminate the balance owed to the current provider, and a new provider will run a credit check. An unpaid balance with a prior REP can result in a deposit requirement of up to $200 or more with a new provider, depending on credit history.

For customers who are current on their bills, summer heat is a reasonable time to compare plans. Rate shopping is most valuable when done before a billing cycle locks in. As of August 31, 2026, plans listed on Choose My Power ranged from 5.6 cents per kWh all-in at 1,000 kWh (Just Energy, Smart Choice 12, lowest-cost utility area) to well above the median listed rate of 14.8 cents per kWh at the same usage level. The spread between the cheapest and median plans is large enough to be worth evaluating, particularly before signing a long-term contract heading into fall.

Customers who are in a protected period under the heat moratorium should wait until their account is current and the heat event has passed before switching. Switching during a moratorium period with a past-due balance adds financial and logistical complexity without a reliable benefit.

Summary of Key Rules

Texas residential electricity customers in deregulated areas cannot be disconnected for non-payment when:

  • A heat advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for their county that day, or
  • A heat advisory was issued by the National Weather Service for their county on either of the two preceding calendar days.

The authority for these protections is PUCT Rule 25.483. Customers who believe a provider violated these rules can file a complaint at puc.texas.gov. Customers who are past due should request a deferred payment plan from their provider and explore LIHEAP assistance before a heat event arrives, rather than relying on the moratorium as a long-term strategy.