Petition · To the Maryland Public Service Commission and Maryland's utilities
From Nov 1 to Mar 31, a Maryland utility cannot shut off a home for nonpayment without first filing an affidavit with the Commission. Summer has no season like it, only 72-hour extreme heat windows. We ask the Maryland Public Service Commission and Maryland's electric and gas utilities for a Jun 1 to Sep 30 protection season that mirrors the winter rule, and a final decision on the proposed 120-hour summer extreme weather period.
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Jun 1 to Sep 30
From Nov 1 through Mar 31, a utility must file an affidavit with the Commission before terminating a residential customer, stating that the customer was notified in writing and by personal contact of their rights and of financial assistance options, the dates of contact attempts, the reason for termination, whether the household is in an assistance program, and whether anyone in the home is elderly, handicapped, seriously ill or dependent on life-support equipment. Apply the same affidavit requirement from Jun 1 through Sep 30.
120 hours
Today a summer extreme weather period lasts 72 hours. The Commission has proposed, in rulemaking RM 86 (Case No. 9745), lengthening it to 120 hours: five consecutive 24-hour segments. Finish the rulemaking and put the 120-hour window in the rules, so protection lasts through more of a heat wave.
Maryland's rules do protect households in the worst heat. An extreme weather period is 72 hours starting at 6 a.m., three consecutive 24-hour segments. If the forecast heat index or air temperature for any segment is 95°F or above, a utility may not terminate for nonpayment during that period. But that window is the whole summer rule. Once it passes, a shut-off can go ahead, with the same balance, the same household and the same summer still underway.
Winter is treated differently. From Nov 1 through Mar 31 the utility has to file an affidavit with the Commission before a residential shut-off, showing it notified the customer of their rights and of financial assistance options and whether anyone in the home is elderly, seriously ill or dependent on life-support equipment. That season exists because cold kills. Heat is the deadliest weather in the United States by the National Weather Service's count, and it gets no season at all.
A summer shut-off takes several things away at once: the air conditioning, the fans, the refrigerator that holds insulin and other medication, and the medical devices that run on the outlet. For an older adult, a baby or someone with a heart or lung condition, that is not an inconvenience. It is the emergency.
The Commission has already proposed a 120-hour summer extreme weather period. Finishing that work and adding a summer season to match winter's would close the gap.
What the rules say today
Nov 1 through Mar 31: no residential termination without an affidavit to the Commission. Summer: no termination during a 72-hour window when the forecast heat index or temperature is 95°F or above. There is no summer season.
Maryland PSC rules, COMAR 20.31.01.02 and 20.31.03. The 120-hour summer extreme weather period is proposed in rulemaking RM 86 (Case No. 9745) and is not yet final.
Today
The ask
A Maryland 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We run the Critical Medical Needs Program under contract with the Maryland Department of Human Services, have processed more than 1,000 CMNP applications and have helped secure more than $20 million in assistance for Maryland households. In 2026 the Department honored us with the Vulnerable Population Expert Award. Every summer our phone line hears from households holding a shut-off notice in a heat wave. This petition is what we would change.
1,000+
CMNP applications
$20M+
In assistance secured
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