Newly released federal data offers the clearest look yet at which electric and gas utilities disconnect the most residential customers for falling behind on their electric bills. The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest dataset follows an April report that showed that utilities disconnected customers’ residential electric service 13.5 million times for unpaid bills in 2024, and residential gas service 1.6 million times. That report broke down data by state, but not by individual utility provider. 

When accounting for how many customers the utilities serve, the new data shows that American Electric Power’s Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) reported the highest disconnection rate among investor-owned electric utilities in 2024. For every 100 customers it served, PSO reported 58 residential electric disconnections for nonpayment per year in 2024. By the same measurement, Texas distribution utilities Centerpoint and Oncor reported 38 and 36 disconnections per year for every 100 customers they served, respectively. Multiple disconnections at the same address over the course of a year are aggregated.

Oncor led all investor-owned utilities in total residential electric disconnections, reporting 1.24 million shutoffs in 2024. NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light (FPL) ranked second nationally with 1.23 million residential electric disconnections in 2024.

Investor-owned utilities reporting the most residential electric shutoffs are not always those with the highest disconnection rates, since large utilities can rank near the top of total shutoffs simply because they serve millions of customers. Still, several large utilities ranked highly on both measures: four of the five utilities reporting the most residential electric disconnections in 2024 were also among the ten with the highest disconnection rates, according to an analysis of the data by the Energy and Policy Institute (EPI).

Together, the data highlights the need for greater transparency around utility disconnection practices and raises questions about the adequacy of consumer protections in states where shutoffs remain widespread. Utility shutoffs pose significant risks to the health and finances of affected households. Disconnected households lose access to lighting, refrigeration, air conditioning, and in some cases medical equipment. Customers may accrue predatory debt or forego expenses on other necessities, such as food, in order to restore utility service.

The loss of cooling poses a growing threat to vulnerable households. Extreme heat is already the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S. A 2024 investigation from the Cincinnati Enquirer found that 45% of the 3,142 heat-related deaths recorded by the National Weather Service in the past two decades occurred in homes, likely related to a lack of air-conditioning and compounding health issues. As climate change worsens, extreme heat events will increase in both frequency and severity. The Southeast and Texas, in particular, are expected to experience some of the largest increases in extreme heat exposure. 

The datasets arrive as rising utility bills have become an increasingly prominent political issue. A recent National Energy Assistance Directors Association report found that low-income U.S. households spend an average of 8.6 percent of their income on energy — nearly three times the burden compared to other households — and that roughly 21.5 million households, or about one in six, are behind on their energy bills. At the same time, investor-owned utilities reported more than $52 billion in profits in 2024.

The investor-owned utility trade associations, the Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association, opposed the federal surveys, arguing the reporting requirements were unnecessary and burdensome. EIA pressed ahead with the survey, noting the lack of comprehensive public data on utility disconnections. The agency’s new data includes responses from investor-owned utilities, public power providers and rural electric cooperatives, with a 93 percent response rate for electric utilities. The data does not break down customer accounts that may have experienced multiple disconnections in 2024.

Oklahoma and Texas investor-owned utilities lead in shutoff rates

American Electric Power’s Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) reported the highest disconnection rate among investor-owned electric utilities in 2024. For every 100 customers served, PSO reported 58 residential electric disconnections for nonpayment. Oklahoma ranked third nationally for total electric disconnections; the state does not require utilities to publicly report shutoff data to state regulators; it prevents utilities from disconnecting customers only during periods of extreme heat and cold weather. 

The high disconnection rate comes as Oklahoma customers continue to bear the costs of Winter Storm Uri. Oklahoma utilities PSO, Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E), ONE Gas, and Summit paid some of the highest natural gas prices in U.S. history during two weeks in February 2021, incurring some $2.8 billion in debt. Ratepayer-backed bonds were issued to pay for the debt, which has brought the total combined costs to close to $5 billion that customers will be paying off for years. State lawmakers have challenged the bonds and rate hikes.

AEP’s board of directors in 2024 paid a combined total of $27.5 million in executive compensation to three CEOs: former CEO Julia Sloat, who was removed in February of that year, interim CEO Ben Fowke, and current CEO Bill Fehrman. The board in 2025 approved $36 million in executive compensation for Fehrman — the largest compensation package received by an investor-owned utility executive that year.  

Following PSO in terms of disconnection rate were two Texas transmission and distribution utilities (TDUs): CenterPoint’s Texas subsidiary, which serves Houston, and Dallas-based Oncor Electric Delivery, LLC. 

CenterPoint’s subsidiary reported 954,139 residential electric disconnections in 2024, equivalent to approximately 38 disconnections for every 100 customers served, while Oncor reported 1,241,425 residential electric disconnections in 2024, or roughly 36 disconnections for every 100 customers.  

CenterPoint and Oncor operate within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market, where customers are generally served by retail energy providers (REPs). Customers choose their retail energy provider, but they cannot choose their transmission and distribution utility (TDU). REPs bill the customers and submit their information for disconnection to the TDU; the EIA data does not show which REP disconnected the most customers. Texas does not require utilities to disclose disconnection numbers. 

According to a report from the Texas Energy Poverty Center, residential retail electricity prices rose 30 percent between 2021 and 2025, with rates projected to rise 29 percent by 2030 — largely driven by transmission and distribution investments.  

In 2024, Oncor reported $968 million in profits, which rose 10 percent to over $1 billion in 2025. Parent company CenterPoint Energy recorded $1.019 billion in profits in 2024, which rose 3% to $1.052 billion in 2025.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E) appeared twice in the top ten, with high disconnection rates for both its Arkansas and Oklahoma service territories. In its Arkansas service territory, the utility reported approximately 28 residential electric disconnections for every 100 customers served, ranking fourth overall among investor-owned utilities. In Oklahoma, OG&E reported about 24 disconnections for every 100 customers, placing sixth.

Another utility in the top five of investor-owned companies was Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP), which reported roughly 27 disconnections for every 100 customers in their Texas territory in 2024. TNMP’s parent company, TXNM Energy, is currently the subject of a proposed acquisition by private equity firm Blackstone. The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) unanimously approved the acquisition earlier this year, despite testimony from staff saying rates could increase.

“Customer rates, meanwhile, are expected to more than double during Blackstone’s holding period, growing at a 6.5% compound annual growth rate. Indirect benefits, such as access to capital, are uncertain,”the PUCT staff testified. 

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission is currently reviewing the acquisition, and a decision is expected later this year.

Other utilities that made the top ten among investor-owned companies for disconnection rates include NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light and Entergy Mississippi, each reporting roughly 23 disconnections for every 100 customers served. Tampa Electric and another AEP subsidiary in Texas, Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), rounded out the top ten with approximately 22 and 19 disconnections per 100 customers, respectively.

Taken together, six of the ten highest disconnection rates were reported by utilities operating in Oklahoma or Texas, underscoring the concentration of shutoffs in states with limited public reporting requirements and weak consumer protections. 

Texas and Florida investor-owned utilities lead in overall disconnections

Oncor led all investor-owned utilities in total residential electric disconnections, reporting 1.24 million shutoffs in 2024. CenterPoint Energy’s Houston-area utility ranked third, reporting 954,139 disconnections.

NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light (FPL) ranked second nationally with 1.23 million residential electric disconnections in 2024, or roughly 102,000 per month. 

NextEra recently announced plans to acquire Dominion Energy, whose subsidiary Virginia Electric & Power Company ranked fourth nationwide for total electric disconnections in 2024. Consumer advocates have raised concerns the merger could increase utility bills, citing NextEra’s projected rate base growth, its record of advocating for high authorized returns on equity, and its history of political spending and controversies involving NextEra’s influence over utility regulation. 

Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) also appeared in the top five, ranking fifth nationally with 290,739 residential electric disconnections in 2024.

Other notable investor-owned utilities in the top ten include Southern Company subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power. Alabama Power reported 208,579 disconnections, averaging 17,381 per month. Georgia Power reported a total of 187,000 disconnections, averaging 15,583 per month. Alabama does not prohibit shutoffs during extreme heat, though it has cold-weather protections. Georgia has limited protections that apply during periods of extreme heat and cold. Backlash against rate increases and rising power bills have influenced political races in those states, contributing to some incumbent utility regulators losing seats in recent elections. 

Municipals and cooperatives also record high disconnection rates

Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives also reported high disconnection rates in 2024. EPI found that municipal utilities reported an annual disconnection rate of 12.3 disconnections per 100 customers, while electric cooperatives reported a rate of 7.8 disconnections per 100 customers, compared with 6.3 disconnections per 100 customers for investor-owned utilities. 

Municipal and cooperative utilities collectively serve about 28% of the country’s customers, while investor-owned utilities serve about 66% of customers.

The disconnection rates were higher among larger municipal utilities and cooperatives. Municipal utilities serving more than 100,000 customers reported an annual disconnection rate of 16.4 disconnections annually per 100 customers, while electric cooperatives serving more than 100,000 customers reported a rate of 11.6 disconnections per 100 customers. Smaller municipal utilities and cooperatives serving fewer than 100,000 customers reported annual disconnection rates of 12.1 disconnections per 100 customers, and 7.6 respectively.

South Kentucky RECC reported the highest disconnection rate among all investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and rural electric cooperatives in the dataset, with approximately 86 residential electric disconnections for every 100 customers served. The cooperative charges up to $347 to reconnect electricity service, according to Rebecca Shelton of the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center. Shelton co-authored a report that found that residential electricity rates in Kentucky increased by 128 percent between 2001 and 2024. Unlike 41 other states, Kentucky has no legal protections preventing utilities from cutting off power during dangerous heat. 

Several municipal utilities and cooperatives serving larger customer bases reported disconnection rates comparable to, or higher than, many investor-owned utilities. These utilities were concentrated primarily in the Southeast.

Alabama’s municipal utility in Huntsville reported the highest disconnection rate among larger municipal utilities, with approximately 53 disconnections for every 100 customers served. Municipal utilities in Memphis, Tennessee; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Tallahassee, Florida followed, reporting approximately 47, 44, and 30 disconnections per 100 customers, respectively. Sumter Electric Cooperative in Florida rounded out the top five with roughly 27 disconnections per 100 customers.

New federal data highlights uneven state shutoff protections

Consumer advocates have long called for utility disconnection reforms, including more transparent reporting, flexible payment plans, arrearage management, and policies designed to reduce or eliminate shutoff for nonpayment, particularly for vulnerable households. Even for states with strong disconnection protection policies, those protections can vary. Many states have rules that only apply to investor-owned utilities, leaving municipal and cooperative utility customers unprotected. 

The EIA datasets provide a new national baseline for comparing shutoff practices while highlighting the uneven patchwork of rules determined by state lawmakers and regulators. Some states have recently taken steps to improve transparency and customer protections, while others have resisted similar reforms.

In Texas, Democratic state Senator Juan Hinojosa introduced legislation in 2025 that would have required all Texas utilities and electric market participants to report disconnection data to the Public Utilities Commission and the PUCT to publish a report on disconnection data by June 1, updating the report on at least a weekly basis from June to September. The bill did not receive a hearing. Hinojosa represents customers in AEP Texas’s territory, which was one of the few utilities that did not report disconnection data to the EIA, according to the dataset. 

That same year, Florida Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman filed legislation to protect customers from shutoffs during extreme weather, but the bill never advanced past introduction, with NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light lobbying against it. Florida remains one of just seven states with no state laws or rules preventing utilities from cutting power during dangerous weather. However, Duke Energy and FPL agreed in recent rate case settlements not to disconnect customers on days when temperatures exceed 95 degrees. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida utility regulators temporarily required utilities to file monthly disconnection reports, but the rule ended after 21 months. 

In Nevada, consumer complaints motivated state legislators to pass SB 442, which requires utilities to submit quarterly reports providing data on the total number of monthly utility disconnections of residential customers, and aggregating the information by zip code of the disconnected residences. This bill is currently in a rulemaking process at the Public Utilities Commission.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power moved in 2023 to permanently prohibit disconnections for low-income customers, senior citizens, and other eligible customers, and to bar disconnections during extreme weather. The utility reported a disconnection rate of just 0.07 percent in 2024, with 954 residential electric disconnections.

In New York, PSEG Long Island faced public backlash after recent media coverage revealed mocking comments made by collections supervisors over customers who were disconnected. 

“People think much better in the dark,” said a speaker who identified himself as a collections supervisor from PSEG Long Island, according to the New York Times. The audience laughed at the remark, the Times reported.

State regulators and the Long Island Power Authority have launched reviews of the utility’s disconnection practices. 

Notes on data

Many utilities that reported data to EIA provide both gas and electric service. EIA instructed those utilities to report electric and gas disconnections separately, meaning a dual-fuel customer who lost both services in the same month could be counted once as an electric disconnection and once as a gas disconnection. EIA cautioned that electric and gas shutoff totals should therefore not be added together. In cases where utilities could not separate electric and gas data, EIA treated the combined total as electric disconnections and separately imputed gas figures.

EPI reported “disconnection rate” data as the number of disconnections performed by a utility compared to the number of overall customers the utility serves. A utility with a disconnection rate of “50 disconnections per 100 customers” did not disconnect “50% of its customers” in 2024, because a customer may have been disconnected multiple times in the course of the year. The EIA dataset did not provide information on customers experiencing multiple disconnections in 2024.

The dataset used for this analysis was processed by both EPI and the Energy Equity Project. You can view the dataset here and the data processing methodology here.

Note: An EPI review of the federal dataset revealed reporting discrepancies from investor-owned utilities in Louisiana as well as from some cooperatives and municipal utilities. As a result, data from Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC and Entergy Louisiana do not appear in EPI’s analysis and graphics. EPI also excluded some municipalities and rural cooperatives who appeared to undercount their shutoff numbers and/or didn’t report accurate customer counts from EPI’s analysis and graphic.