Kansas utility customers who have fallen behind can restore service by paying one-twelfth of the overdue amount plus one-twelfth of the current bill, along with disconnection and reconnection fees and any deposit, and then spreading the rest over the next 11 months. The Kansas Corporation Commission treats that plan as part of its Cold Weather Rule, which also bars shutoffs when the forecast calls for temperatures below 35 degrees. The rule’s season starts November 1, nine days from now.
The payment math on a past-due bill
The commission’s Cold Weather Rule page sets out the first step: pay 1/12 of the overdue amount and 1/12 of the current bill, plus all disconnection and reconnection fees and any deposit owed. The remainder of the overdue balance is paid in equal installments over the next 11 months. The page adds that the 12-month option is always available under the rule.
A hypothetical shows the size of the first payment. On $1,200 overdue and a $150 current bill, the up-front amount is $100 plus $12.50, or $112.50, before fees and any deposit. The other $1,100 is then split into 11 payments of $100 on top of each month’s current bill.
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Customers can also negotiate a faster schedule that clears the overdue amount in fewer than 12 months. The page lists no dollar amounts for fees or deposits. Anyone planning the first payment should ask the utility for the reconnection fee and deposit in writing before calling it a total.
What the 35-degree line stops and what it does not
A utility cannot disconnect a customer when the forecast for the following 48 hours is below 35 degrees Fahrenheit, except in certain circumstances the page does not define. If the 48-hour forecast is above 35, the utility may begin the final notice and disconnection process. If the forecast drops below 35 before that period ends, the utility must wait for another forecast above 35.
The rule is a pause, not a pardon. To be reconnected regardless of temperature, the commission says a customer must make pay arrangements with the utility. The temperature test governs shutoffs, while the payment plan is what gets service back on after one.
The season runs November 1 through March 31, according to the commission’s winter-rule announcement from October 2023. That release says residential customers of electric and natural gas utilities under commission jurisdiction qualify for payment arrangements with a past-due balance. It notes that municipal utilities and cooperatives often have similar winter policies.
What customers owe in return
The rule asks things of customers as well. Anyone who cannot pay the full bill is told to call the utility to make pay arrangements, and the customer must keep paying full bills for new service while repaying the overdue amount. A customer who missed a previous payment plan needs a new agreement.
Customers must also apply for any federal, state, local or special assistance they qualify for. Service used illegally must be paid for at its value. The commission’s consumer line, (800) 662-0027, takes questions about how the rule applies to a particular account.
Utilities have duties too. They must explain the Cold Weather Rule payment plan and other options, send written notice 10 days before a disconnection and try a phone call or personal contact the day before. They are also required to tell customers about agencies that offer help with bills.
Where the overdue money can come from
The Kansas Department for Children and Families runs the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, known as LIEAP, which pays a one-time benefit per year for electricity, natural gas, propane or other heating fuels. The department’s LIEAP page sets the income ceiling at 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $1,995 a month for one person and $2,705 for two.
LIEAP’s 2026 application period has ended, the page says, and the next one will be posted when it is available. The department said in a January 2026 release that more than 43,000 Kansas households received an average benefit of about $680 in 2025. Benefit amounts depend on income, household size, dwelling type and heating fuel.
The release put the 2026 window at January 20 through March 31, and no opening date for the next period is posted. A customer who falls behind in November therefore has no LIEAP date to plan around when the up-front payment comes due. The department’s customer service line, 1-833-765-2003, can say when the next period opens.
For a household that is behind today, the open question is the first payment: whether a twelfth of the overdue amount, a twelfth of the current bill, the fees and any deposit can be found before the utility’s next notice. The plan spreads the rest across 11 months, but it only starts once that first sum is paid.
Is a Kansas utility bill already past due before November 1?
The payment plan starts only after the first sum is paid, and that sum includes fees and any deposit on top of the two twelfths. A customer who waits for a shutoff notice finds the money due all at once.
The Cold Weather Rule governs payment plans, not who pays the balance, so the next job is finding the help. The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit covers heating, cooling and home-repair help for older homeowners and includes an application log and renewal calendar for each application and its dates.
Keep utility-aid dates in the relief kit and application log →
More Financial Reading
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
