Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1576
By Senator Smith
17-00885A-26 20261576__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to residential utility disconnections;
3 creating s. 366.043, F.S.; defining terms; prohibiting
4 an electric utility, a public utility, or a water
5 utility from disconnecting service to residential
6 customers for nonpayment of bills or fees under
7 specified circumstances; requiring such utilities to
8 waive reconnection fees and late fees in certain
9 circumstances; requiring such utilities to refer to
10 the National Weather Service for the forecasted heat
11 index and forecasted temperatures; prohibiting such
12 utilities from disconnecting service to residential
13 customers for nonpayment of bills or fees on specified
14 days; prohibiting such utilities from recovering from
15 customers any fee or expense incurred in complying
16 with the act; requiring such utilities to provide, in
17 a specified manner, their policy for disconnection for
18 nonpayment to residential customers; requiring an
19 electric utility to publish alerts informing
20 residential customers of certain disconnection
21 suspensions; requiring that all notices of nonpayment
22 of bills and fees provide an offer of bill payment
23 assistance or provide certain information; prohibiting
24 such utilities from disconnecting service for
25 nonpayment of bills and fees until an account is past
26 due by at least a specified number of days; providing
27 construction; authorizing such utilities to suspend
28 disconnections voluntarily in order to protect the
29 health and safety of customers and the reliability of
30 services; providing penalties and remedies; providing
31 an effective date.
32
33 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
34
35 Section 1. Section 366.043, Florida Statutes, is created to
36 read:
37 366.043 Disconnection of utilities.—
38 (1) As used in this section, the term:
39 (a) “Extreme weather event” means any event in which
40 weather, climate, or environmental conditions present a danger
41 to life or property, including, but not limited to, heavy
42 rainfall, flooding, storm surge, strong winds, a tropical storm
43 or depression, a hurricane, or a tornado.
44 (b) “Forecasted heat index” means the measure of how hot
45 the outdoor weather will feel to the human body when the effects
46 of humidity are added to high temperatures predicted by the
47 National Weather Service.
48 (c) “Water utility” means a water or wastewater utility
49 including every person, lessee, trustee, or receiver owning,
50 operating, managing, controlling, or proposing the construction
51 of a system, which provides, or proposes to provide, water or
52 wastewater service to the public for compensation.
53 (2) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
54 utility may not disconnect service to any residential customer
55 for the nonpayment of bills or fees if:
56 (a) The forecasted heat index is at or above 90 degrees
57 Fahrenheit for more than 3 consecutive hours within the 24 hours
58 before or after the scheduled disconnection;
59 (b) The forecasted temperature is at or below 32 degrees
60 Fahrenheit for more than 3 consecutive hours within 48 hours
61 before the scheduled disconnection; or
62 (c) A state of emergency is declared for an extreme weather
63 event or public health emergency within 24 hours before or after
64 the scheduled disconnection. Scheduled service disconnections
65 may resume upon the shorter of either 24 hours after the state
66 of emergency is lifted or 60 days after the declaration of the
67 state of emergency.
68 (3) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
69 utility must waive reconnection fees and late fees for any
70 residential customer attempting to reestablish utility service
71 after being disconnected for nonpayment if:
72 (a) The heat index is at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit for
73 more than 3 consecutive hours on the day of disconnection; or
74 (b) The temperature is at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit
75 for more than 3 consecutive hours on the day of disconnection.
76 (4) To ascertain the forecasted heat index and forecasted
77 temperature as provided in this section, each respective
78 electric utility, public utility, or water utility shall refer
79 to the weather forecast as provided by the National Weather
80 Service for the zip code area where the customer scheduled for
81 disconnection is located.
82 (5) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
83 utility may not disconnect service to any residential customer
84 for nonpayment of bills or fees on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
85 state holiday, or day immediately preceding a state holiday.
86 (6) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
87 utility may not recover from its customers any fee or expense it
88 incurs in complying with this section.
89 (7)(a) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
90 utility shall provide its residential customers with a copy of
91 its disconnection for nonpayment policy:
92 1. When a new residential account is established;
93 2. When any disconnection for nonpayment of bills or fees
94 is scheduled. The utility’s notice of disconnection must include
95 a copy of the policy with the notice; and
96 3. By publishing the disconnection for nonpayment policy on
97 the utility’s website.
98 (b) An electric utility shall publish alerts informing its
99 residential customers of the suspension of the disconnection of
100 services due to a forecasted heat index above 90 degrees
101 Fahrenheit, forecasted temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit,
102 or an extreme weather event.
103 (8) All notices of nonpayment of bills or fees must provide
104 an offer of bill payment assistance and instructions on how to
105 arrange a payment plan or must provide information to the
106 customer on other available bill payment assistance or energy
107 assistance programs.
108 (9) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
109 utility may not disconnect service for nonpayment of bills or
110 fees for residential customers until a customer account is at
111 least 60 days past due.
112 (10) This section may not be construed to limit an electric
113 utility, a public utility, or a water utility from voluntarily
114 suspending scheduled disconnections during other extreme weather
115 events, emergency conditions, incidents pursuant to s. 366.15(5)
116 or (6), or circumstances in which it determines that such
117 suspension is necessary to protect the health and safety of its
118 customers and the reliability of its service in this state.
119 Further, this section may not be construed to prohibit emergency
120 disconnections for health and safety purposes or the occurrence
121 of an automatic service suspension associated with prepaid
122 utility service.
123 (11)(a) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
124 utility that violates this section is liable to the unlawfully
125 disconnected residential customer for actual and consequential
126 damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, and court costs,
127 including attorney fees, in addition to any penalties imposed
128 pursuant to s. 366.095. Subsequent or repeated violations
129 unrelated to the initial violation are subject to separate
130 awards of damages. Any applicable sovereign immunity is hereby
131 waived for the purposes of this section.
132 (b) A violation of this section constitutes irreparable
133 harm for the purposes of injunctive relief.
134 (c) The remedies provided by this section are not exclusive
135 and do not preclude a disconnected residential customer from
136 pursuing any other remedy at law or equity which may be
137 available to the customer.
138 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.