No Huntsville Utilities shutoffs when lows dip below 32

Huntsville Utilities does not disconnect a customer for an unpaid bill while the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures below 32 degrees. That rule is about to matter: lows below freezing are in the forecast for Friday and Saturday nights.

The rule is in the utility’s own customer care policies, last revised April 3, 2025. It covers electric, gas and water service, and it works the same way in extreme heat, when the forecast tops 100 degrees.

What the forecast says

The National Weather Service in Huntsville forecasts for the city:

• Thursday night: a low around 34, with areas of frost after 4 a.m.
• Friday night, Nov. 13: a low around 30, with widespread frost after 10 p.m.
• Saturday night, Nov. 14: a low around 28.
• Sunday night, Nov. 15: a low around 34.

No freeze warning or frost advisory was in effect for Madison County late Wednesday.

How the cold-weather rule works

When the forecast falls below 32 degrees, Huntsville Utilities sends a representative to the homes of customers whose service is due to be cut off, to try to collect the overdue amount. The policy says:

• the customer’s service is not cut off for nonpayment “until weather conditions improve”
• a fee for that collection visit goes on the customer’s next bill
• postponed disconnections resume “when weather permits,” and the utility does not send another notice first
• service that was already cut off before the cold arrived is not turned back on because of the weather

The rule delays a shutoff. It does not cancel the bill.

A separate rule covers tornadoes, winter storms and other events that knock out power across the service area. In those cases, management may choose to suspend all disconnections, the policy says.

Before the shutoff date

Under the policy, a customer who gets a disconnect notice can pay, ask for a payment extension or make another “satisfactory arrangement to pay” by the date on the notice. The notice also offers an account review. If service is cut off and the bill and fees are not paid within seven days, counting the day of the disconnection, the account is closed and every Huntsville Utilities service at the address is disconnected.

Huntsville Utilities’ main number is 256-535-1200.

Help with winter bills

Project Share, the utility’s winter bill-help fund, has run since December 1988. It is open to Huntsville Utilities customers who are 62 or older, or certified as disabled, and on a low or fixed income within the state’s guidelines, the Project Share page says. The Salvation Army screens applicants and decides who receives help.

From January to March 2026, the fund helped 844 families with the gas and electric parts of their bills, according to the utility. It paid out $192,860.15, an average of $228.51 a family.

Customers can give to it, from $1 a month, when they pay their own bill.

Medical equipment at home

Customers who depend on certain electric life-support equipment at home, such as a breathing machine or a home dialysis unit, can ask to join the utility’s critical care list. Being on the list does not stop a disconnection for nonpayment, the policy says. Before cutting off a critical care customer, the utility asks the Huntsville Police Department or the Madison County Sheriff’s Office to make a wellness check.

What it means for you

• If you have a disconnect notice, the cold this weekend may delay the shutoff, but the utility will resume without warning once the weather allows. Call 256-535-1200 before the date on the notice to set up a payment arrangement.
• If you are 62 or older or disabled and struggling with winter bills, ask about Project Share. The Salvation Army handles the screening.
• If your power, gas or water goes out, report it on the utility’s outage line. Our page on power outages in Huntsville has the number and the outage map.