{"id":210760,"date":"2026-10-01T21:16:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T02:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=210760"},"modified":"2026-10-01T21:16:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T02:16:45","slug":"special-reconnect-order-issued-by-puco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/01\/special-reconnect-order-issued-by-puco\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Reconnect Order issued by PUCO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS — The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has issued its\u202fSpecial Reconnect Order\u202ffor the upcoming winter heating season. The Special Reconnect Order helps Ohioans\u202fserved by\u202fPUCO-regulated utilities reconnect or maintain electric and natural gas service during the winter heating season between Monday, October 12, through April 16, 2027.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any\u202fresidential\u202fcustomer of a PUCO-regulated electric or natural gas utility may take advantage of the\u202fprovisions contained in the\u202forder\u202fonce per winter heating season. Last winter heating season, more than\u202f227,637 Ohioans\u202fused the Special Reconnect Order.\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor more than three decades, the PUCO has issued its Special Reconnect Order, providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of households in Ohio each year. This order is one of the ways the PUCO is able to help families remain connected to their primary heating source during the winter months,\u201d stated PUCO Chair Jenifer French. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under\u202fthe Special Reconnect Order, customers\u202fmust pay the utility no more than $175 plus any applicable reconnection\u202fcharge, which cannot exceed $36. If the\u202futility\u2019s\u202freconnect\u202fcharge is greater than $36, the balance\u202fabove $36\u202fmay be\u202fcharged to\u202fthe customer\u202fon the customer\u2019s\u202fnext monthly bill.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Special Reconnect Order also applies to customers seeking to establish new electric or natural gas service\u202fprovided they are served by\u202fPUCO-regulated utilities. Rather than paying the full security deposit that may be required for new service, customers can pay up to $175 and the balance\u202fabove $175 may be charged to the customer on the customer\u2019s next monthly bill.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no income eligibility requirement to use the Special Reconnect Order; however, customers who\u202fare at or below 175 percent of the federal\u202fincome guidelines may apply for assistance through the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)\u202fwinter crisis program\u202fto pay the $175\u202famount.\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohioans looking to use the Special Reconnect Order should contact their electric or natural gas utility between October 12 and April 16, 2027\u202fto\u202ffind out how to apply the assistance to their bill.\u202fUtility representatives will explain the order and set up a payment plan\u202fto address any\u202fremaining balance on your account after the $175 has been applied.\u202fA\u202flist of PUCO-regulated utilities\u202fis available on the PUCO website.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information\u202fabout energy assistance programs and ways to save on home heating bills this winter is available on the PUCO\u2019s website\u202fhere<\/u><\/a>.\u202f <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submitted information COLUMBUS — The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has issued its\u202fSpecial Reconnect Order\u202ffor the upcoming winter heating season. The Special Reconnect Order helps Ohioans\u202fserved by\u202fPUCO-regulated utilities reconnect or maintain electric and natural gas service during the winter heating season between Monday, October 12, through April 16, 2027.\u202f\u00a0 Any\u202fresidential\u202fcustomer of a PUCO-regulated electric or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-09 00:56:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210761,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210760\/revisions\/210761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}