The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Indiana Prohibits Utility Disconnections on Weekends, Holidays, and Summer Months for Eligible Residents
Last action · January 5, 2026: First reading: referred to Committee on UtilitiesSponsor: La Keisha Jackson
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
Beginning January 1, 2027, electric and gas utilities are barred from disconnecting residential service during summer months (June 21 through September 23) for individuals who have applied for home energy assistance. The measure also permanently bans electric, gas, and water utilities from disconnecting service on weekends, legal holidays, or days when customer service offices are closed, and prohibits charging deposits or reconnection fees after a service shutoff for nonpayment.
Residential utility customers gain new protections against shutoffs during extreme summer heat and weekends, while utilities face new quarterly reporting mandates and the elimination of reconnection fees and late-payment interest rates.
- The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) regulates the rates, charges, and service rules of state utilities. context
- Current Indiana law provides a winter moratorium from December 1 through March 15 prohibiting utility disconnections for eligible low-income energy assistance applicants. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
residential utility customers
Residential customers receive expanded protection from disconnections during specific calendar periods and days of the week, elimination of reconnection fees and deposits after shutoffs, and access to amortization agreements.
electric, gas, and water utilities
Utilities must comply with new restrictions on disconnection timing, stop charging reconnection fees and deposits for nonpayment restorations, amend their residential tariffs, and submit detailed quarterly reports to the IURC.
Indiana utility regulatory commission
The commission must adopt implementing rules, approve amended utility tariffs, compile quarterly utility data reports, and include annual summaries in its report.
Key Facts
- Expands the winter utility disconnection moratorium for electric and gas utilities to include the period from June 21 through September 23 for eligible home energy assistance applicants, effective January 1, 2027.
- Prohibits electric, gas, or water utilities from disconnecting residential service on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, or days/afternoons when customer service representatives are unavailable.
- Bans electric, gas, and water utilities from charging or collecting deposits, reconnection fees, or similar charges for restoring residential service after a nonpayment termination.
- Repeals the authority of the Indiana utility regulatory commission (IURC) to establish a reasonable rate of interest on delinquent customer bills.
Show all 8 facts
- Requires electric, gas, and water utilities to submit quarterly reports to the IURC containing detailed data on customer accounts, delinquencies, disconnections, and payment plans, starting with the third quarter of 2026.
- Requires utilities to amend their residential tariffs and file petitions for approval with the IURC by June 15, 2026, to bring them into conformance with the act.
- Requires the IURC to amend its administrative rules (including 170 IAC 4, 170 IAC 5, and 170 IAC 6) by December 31, 2026.
- Requires the IURC to annually compile and summarize the utility data received and include it in the commission's annual report beginning in 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are utilities prohibited from disconnecting residential service?
Can a utility charge a reconnection fee after restoring service following a shutoff?
What reporting requirements are placed on utilities?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Jan 5, 2026SenateIntroducedFirst reading: referred to Committee on Utilities
- Jan 5, 2026SenateAuthored by Senator Jackson L
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Utility Shutoff Moratoriums
The bill bridges summer weather protection alongside existing winter protections, significantly broadening the calendar periods during which vulnerable residential customers are shielded from service termination.
Connected Entities
Sources
iga.in.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 80)
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools