Most of us have been there. You forget to pay the bill. You go on vacation. You’re running short on funds. And then that disconnection notice comes in the mail. Oh no! What now?
This article will explain your rights and responsibilities for your electricity bill in Texas, how to avoid electricity disconnection and what you can do to turn the power on. Additionally, we touch on when your provider can shut off power and alternatives for making payments.
Electricity Shut Off Laws in Texas
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) is there to protect consumers and ensure fair treatment by retail electricity providers (REPs).
If you get a disconnection notice, under PUCT rules, your REP must:
- Provide you a minimum of 10 days’ notice prior to disconnection.
- Allow you to make payment arrangements, if you are qualified to do so (based on the REPs requirements)
- Allow you to make a deferred payment plan if it’s a summer or winter weather moratorium (basically, a state-issued alert for super hot or super cold weather)
- Provide you with information on energy assistance provider organizations that can help you pay your bill if you get a disconnection notice
Some REPs will provide you with a friendly reminder of your missed payment a few days after your bill is due.
But if you fail to contact them or may a payment within a few days of your due date, you will receive a disconnection notice, even if you have a fantastic payment history.
When Can I get a Disconnection Notice?
Your REP is allowed to send you a disconnection notice if you fail to:
- Pay your electric bill by the disconnection date
- Contact your REP to make a deferred payment arrangement by the disconnection date
- Honor your commitment to your deferred payment arrangement or other payment agreement with the REP
- Pay a deposit required by the REP
Before your REP takes action, the PUCT requires them to mail a written disconnection notice no earlier than the first full day after the bill’s due date. The disconnection date, meanwhile, must be set at least 10 days after this notice and not be scheduled on a holiday or weekend, unless the REP is taking payments and can reinstate power on these days.
The disconnection notice you receive must also:
- Tell you how to avoid disconnection.
- Clearly list all charges for disconnection, reconnecting service and paying the outstanding balance.
- Describe how the customer’s payment will go toward their outstanding balance.
- List options for making a payment arrangement.
Disconnecting Power Without Notice
The PUCT’s requirements ultimately prevent REPs from disconnecting your power without a prior warning and without giving you the option to make a payment. However, the PUCT allows for disconnection without warning in select scenarios:
- The customer hasn’t paid their bill and hasn’t agreed to a payment plan by the date of disconnection.
- The customer didn’t follow the terms of their deferred payment plan.
- The customer didn’t pay the required deposit to turn their power on.
- The customer is using their service in a way that affects how the REP operates or how their neighbors obtain power.
- An immediate and sudden safety issue — for example, ahead of or following an extreme weather event.
- A customer’s unauthorized or illegal use of electricity service.
Protection from Electricity Disconnection
Select individuals are also protected from electricity disconnection in Texas:
- If you or someone in your household has a chronic medical condition that could worsen due to disconnection and you have alerted the REP to this issue by submitting the proper paperwork.
- New households or apartment dwellers, if the previous owner or tenant was behind on their bills.
- Individuals who haven’t paid the following types of charges:
- For unrelated service.
- Under-billed charges that are over six months old.
- Charges being disputed with the REP.
- Estimated bill payments.
What are My Options When I Get a Disconnection Notice?
Here are 4 options for what to do if you get a disconnection notice. Don’t panic, but do make a plan. Because you have 10 days from the date of the letter to pay your bill.
1) Make a Payment Immediately
If you simply forgot to pay your bill, go online to make a payment, or call your electricity provider to make a payment over the phone. After you have made the payment, write down your confirmation number. For peace of mind, call customer care at your electricity provider to let them know you have made a payment.
2) Can’t Pay? Call Your Electric Provider!
If you receive a disconnection notice and can’t pay, pick up the phone and call your REP. If you can’t pay your bill, the worst thing you can do is ignore it. Unless you are habitually not paying your bill every month, most retail energy providers will work with you to set up a payment arrangement.
Raise your hand, and ask for help with your electricity bill!
3) Make a Payment Arrangement
If you don’t have the money to pay your electricity bill, most retailers will let you make a payment arrangement for your past due balance. This type of payment arrangement may include what’s called a “switch hold”. Basically, you won’t be able to switch to another provider until you pay off your debt in full.
Whatever you do, if you are granted a payment arrangement, make sure you adhere to the terms of the payment arrangement. Make the payments as scheduled.
That’s important because if you fail to meet your obligations under a payment arrangement, you may not be given a second chance! Failure to meet your payment arrangement may then result in a disconnection. Call your electricity provider if you can’t meet the payment agreement.
4) Consider Switching to Prepaid Electricity
If you have trouble budgeting for your electricity usage, you may want to consider prepaid electricity. Pay-As-You-Go electricity plans, also known as prepaid electricity, are convenient if you are budgeting. And yes, just like with a prepaid cell phone plan, if you run out of minutes (or, in this case, kilowatt hours) your service will be disconnected.
Why is Prepaid Electricity a Good Option if you Get Disconnected?
So why is prepaid electricity a good option? Prepaid electricity will help you budget for your electricity. There’s no credit check and no deposit.
You’ll get constant updates and information on your electricity usage via text and email. You’ll get alerts on how much power you use each day, and how much power you have remaining before you run out of funds.
And that way, you can make smart decisions on your electricity usage to conserve electricity and stretch your budget further. Just know that you must maintain a balance on your account, or you will get disconnected. Disconnection with prepaid plans will happen without the usual 10-day notice that you get with post paid plans.
Shop Prepaid Electricity for Better Budgeting Tools
ElectricityPlans.com makes it easy to shop for Pay-As-You-Go electricity plans, with a carefully selected list of offerings from the best prepaid electricity providers. Our recommendation for the best prepaid electricity plan is Payless Power. Their fixed price prepaid electricity plan gives you the ease of no deposit electricity with the benefits of a secure fixed rate.
TX Electricity Disconnection FAQs
Yes, you can switch electric companies in Texas if you owe money. However, you may have to pay a deposit with your new electricity company. And, if you have entered a payment arrangement with your electricity provider, you may have a switch hold on your account. A switch hold will prevent you from switching electric companies until you have met your payment agreement. If you get disconnected, it’s best to work with your current provider to make payment arrangements.
Your local utility company will not process a disconnection on the weekend. However, they will process any pending disconnection first thing Monday morning. So your best bet is to contact your retail electric company and make the minimum payment over the weekend. That way you will avoid a disconnect on Monday morning.
If your lights are out due to disconnection, you can pay your bill over the weekend and get reconnected. With most retail electric providers, the reconnection is automatic, within minutes of you making a payment, because it’s a remote smart meter. With other REPs, you may need to call and provide a payment confirmation number. This is especially true if you make a cash payment at a third party location.
A switch hold on your electricity meter means that the account holder made a payment agreement with the electricity provider. Until those obligations are met, the account can’t switch to another electricity provider. If you attempt to do a move-in with someone else’s name at the same address, you will be required to provide paperwork proving it’s a new lease under a new name.
Based on the utility schedule, your lights will be back on within minutes to 48 hours of you making a payment. However, you may need to provide your REP with a payment confirmation number before they resume service.
Want to learn more? The Public Utility Commission of Texas also has a great fact sheet about disconnection.
