Title: TenantNet - Getting and Keeping Gas and Electricity Service - When A Utility Company Can Terminate Service To Individual Households
Headings: A Tenant's Guide to Getting and Keeping Gas and Electricity Service
A Tenant's Guide to Getting and Keeping Gas and Electricity Service
IV. When A Utility Company Can Terminate Service To Individual Households
A. Termination due to an emergency
B. Termination for nonpayment
1. Notice you should receive prior to termination
2. Notice to the Human Resources Administration
3. Notice to third parties
C. What you can do to prevent or delay termination
1. Payment
2. Deferred payment agreements
3. Special protections
a. Medical emergency
(i) Life support systems
b. Elderly, blind or disabled
c. Heat-related service in winter

Content: Deferred payment agreements
If your service has been or is about to be shut off for nonpayment and you cannot pay the full amount owed, you may negotiate an agreement, called a "deferred payment agreement," with the utility company to pay what you owe over a period of time. The utility company is required to attempt to make a deferred payment agreement to fit your financial circumstances. At a minimum, the company must explain to you why a plan that fits your budget is not acceptable to them. The utility company may postpone termination for up to ten days to negotiate a deferred payment agreement. The standard deferred payment agreement requires that you make a lump-sum downpayment and monthly payments. The down payment must be equal to 15% of the arrears or one half of one month's average bill, whichever is greater. The monthly payments must be an amount equal to 1/10th of the arrears or one half of one month's average bill, whichever is greater. See sample Deferred Payment Agreement Form, at page 46-G.
If you cannot afford the standard agreement. you may request a more lenient plan. You will have to give information about your family's income, rent or mortgage costs, and other living expenses.