More in the Lakes Area Taking Advantage of Cold Weather Rule

DETROIT LAKES (KDLM) – The economic impacts of COVID-19 are being felt across the state of Minnesota, particularly when it comes to residents paying their utility bills.

More and more Minnesotans are taking advantage of the Cold Weather Rule, which helps protect and reconnect residential heat.

Dan Josephson from MAHUBE-OTWA says that if you’re having trouble paying your heating bills, you’re protected from October 15 through April 15, but you do need to contact your service provider, “You need to call and talk to your utility provider and say, ‘hey, you know what, I’m having trouble paying my bills’ – the big part of that is you need to setup a payment plan.”

The payment plan needs to be a reasonable amount for the customer as well as the utility provider, for instance, income eligible customers with Xcel Energy are not required to pay more than 10% of their household income each month.

Josephson says MAHUBE-OTWA may be able to help some residents with their heating bills, under the Energy Assistance Program. Low-income households may apply at mahube.org