Holiday season

Power or gas shutoff notice in winter: your Nevada protections

In plain words: a power or gas company in Nevada must send written notice at least 10 days before shutting you off for an unpaid bill, can't do it on a weekend, a holiday or the day before one, and must hold off when a deep freeze is forecast. A doctor's note can buy you 30 days, and you have a right to a payment plan. Call the company before the shutoff date, not after.

When they can't shut you off

Days and amounts (NAC 704.375)

Not on a weekend or a holiday
Not on the day before a weekend or a holiday
Not for nonpayment when you owe $50 or less
Electric customers with an advanced meter: not when you owe $100 or less, and only between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Freezing weather (NAC 704.375(6), (7))

A shutoff for nonpayment must be postponed while the National Weather Service forecasts extreme temperature for your area
Gas, all customers: 15°F or lower
Electric in southern Nevada: 15°F or lower, or 20°F or lower if your household includes someone 62 or older or with a disability

Life support at home

A utility may not shut off service if it knows that you or a permanent resident of your household is confined to the home, is on a life support device that needs the utility's service to run there, and is likely to die without it (NAC 704.375(3)). Tell the company in writing now, before any notice comes.

When they can shut off without notice

Only for reasons like an unsafe or hazardous condition, damage to the utility's equipment, a court or Commission order, fraud, an abandoned home, service taken without the company's credit approval, an event nobody could foresee, or when the company tried diligently to give notice and couldn't (NAC 704.350). The weekend, holiday and life-support limits don't stop a shutoff for the first two.

The notice they must send

Timing (NAC 704.360)

Written notice at least 10 days before the shutoff
If you don't respond, a second notice that reaches you at least 48 hours before
Broke a payment plan: only 48 hours' written notice (NAC 704.341)

What it must tell you

The shutoff date, the amount owed and the minimum to stop it
How to dispute it, and the Public Utilities Commission's consumer division contact
Payment arrangements, and at least two agencies that help pay bills
How to get a medical postponement

Disputing the bill

The notice must say that service won't be shut off before the dispute is resolved if you pay the part of the bill you don't question when the dispute arises, and keep paying new bills. If you disagree with the company's decision, the notice tells you how to reach the Division of Consumer Complaint Resolution of the Public Utilities Commission (NAC 704.360(7)).

Someone's health is at risk: get 30 days

1. Get a medical statement. A licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse or public health official certifies that a shutoff would be especially dangerous to the health of someone who lives there. It must list the address, the person's name, the emergency, and the provider's name, title and signature. It can be phoned in if the written copy follows within 5 days.

2. Sign your own statement that you can't pay the bill as billed, or can pay only in installments. The company must allow up to 90 days of installments.

3. The shutoff is postponed 30 days from when the company gets both. A renewed medical certificate before the 30 days run out adds 30 more. Before it ends, set up a payment arrangement with the company (NAC 704.370). If service is already off, it must come back on as soon as the company gets a proper medical statement (NAC 704.383).

Payment plans you have a right to

Deferred payment (NAC 704.341)

Pay the past-due amount in four equal payments over 90 days, the first when you sign
And pay each new bill on time
Once per 11 months, unless the company agrees otherwise
If an energy assistance program pledges or pays toward your bill, you can get a plan for the rest even if you've had one before

Equal monthly billing (NAC 704.338)

The company must offer it while your service is on
Behind already: pay at least half the past-due amount to start, and the rest over the first year
Two missed payments in a row can get you removed

62 or older, or living with a disability

"Elderly" here means 62 or older (NAC 704.3065); a disability includes receiving Social Security disability benefits (NAC 704.3105)
The company must notify you or an adult in the home at least 48 hours before a shutoff, in person for electric and in person or by phone for gas (NAC 704.390)
You can name a third person, like a relative or caseworker, to get a copy of every shutoff notice; they don't have to pay the bill (NAC 704.365)

If the power is already off

Getting it back on (NAC 704.383)

Paid by 10 a.m.: back on the same day
Paid after 10 a.m.: within 24 hours
Advanced electric meters: same day if paid by 2 p.m.
A reconnect fee from the company's tariff may apply

Bills that aren't yours

No shutoff for a bill the previous occupant ran up (NAC 704.380(2))
No home shutoff over an unpaid business account (NAC 704.380(1))

Help paying

On this site

Holiday bill help: power and gas assistance programs
Power outage if it's an outage, not a shutoff
Renting and the landlord pays the utilities: repairs and essential services

Today

Call 211 for bill help near you
No heat and nowhere warm: shelters

Read 2026-11-05 from the Nevada Administrative Code on this house's law shelf: NAC 704.3065, 704.3105, 704.338, 704.341, 704.350, 704.360, 704.365, 704.370, 704.375, 704.380, 704.383 and 704.390 (chapter 704, Rev. 4/13/2026). These rules cover electric and gas utilities the Public Utilities Commission regulates.