Keep your heat on this winter: Ohio’s $175 utility reconnection deal returns

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio utility regulators are again offering a deal to residents who can’t afford to keep their homes lit and heated this winter.

Under a special reconnect order issued Thursday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, any residential customer of a state-regulated electric or natural gas utility can avoid disconnection — or have their service begin or reconnected — so long as they pay a maximum of $175, as well as a $36 fee if service was disconnected, within 30 days.

That $175 limit also applies to customers in danger of losing both electric and natural gas service – the power and gas companies will split the money without cutting off service.

The offer, which is good between Oct. 13 and April 15, 2026, is open to any customer of a regulated Ohio utility, regardless of income.

The PUCO order, by itself, still requires customers to eventually pay any money they owe the utility beyond the $175 and $36 fee.

However, residents making up to 175% of the federal poverty line – which equals $27,387.50 for an individual and $56,262.50 for a family of four – can have their $175 payment covered by the federally funded Home Energy Assistance Program.

They can also enroll in a Percentage of Income Payment Plan, also called PIPP, under which their electric and natural gas bills are each capped at 5% of their household income, or at 10% for their power bill if their home is heated by electricity. After customers make 24 full, on-time payments of at least $10, their outstanding balance will be erased.

For people earning more than 175% of the federal poverty line, utilities will set up a payment plan for them to pay any remaining money that they owe.

To apply the offer, customers must contact their electric and/or natural gas utility. They can also get energy assistance from their local community action agency, which they can find at energyhelp.ohio.gov or by calling 1-800-282-0880.

Anyone with questions can call the PUCO at 1-800-686-7826.

Regulated utilities in Northeast Ohio that must follow the PUCO’s special reconnect order include FirstEnergy, Columbia Gas, and Enbridge. Cleveland Public Power and other municipal utilities are not regulated by the PUCO.

The PUCO has issued special connect orders like this for more than a decade.

Thursday’s order stated that while those past directives “have substantially assisted customers to keep energy service in spite of their financial situation,” the PUCO commissioners “continue to recognize that the special reconnection procedures remain necessary to help residential customers maintain their utility service in the coming winter.”

PUCO expects regulated utilities “will assist customers in every way possible to maintain their service for heating purposes,” including by advertising the availability of payment plans “as much as practicable.”