Which utility shuts off the most customers?

By rate, Appalachian Power (APCo) disconnected residential customers for nonpayment most often among the 26 utilities reporting complete 2024 data — about 18.6 per 100 customers (64,766 households). (Source: EIA-112, 2024.) A high rate reflects local poverty, climate, and state shutoff-protection laws as much as utility policy.

Does a high disconnection rate mean a utility is cruel?

No. Disconnection rates are heavily shaped by things outside a utility's control: how poor or cold its service area is, how strong its state's winter-moratorium and medical-protection rules are, and how well-funded assistance programs are. The rate is a real, federally reported outcome — but it isn't proof of intent, and it doesn't capture payment plans or how fast customers were reconnected.

Why rank by rate instead of total shutoffs?

Raw counts mostly just track size — the biggest utility almost always has the most shutoffs. Rate per 100 customers is the only fair way to compare how often a utility disconnects, regardless of how many customers it serves. We show the raw count too, because each one is a real household.

Rankings · disconnections

Which utilities shut off the most customers

In 2024, Appalachian Power (APCo) disconnected residential customers for nonpayment at the highest rate of the 26 utilities that reported a full year — about 18.6 for every 100 customers, or 64,766 households. Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) had the lowest rate, about 1.3 per 100. (Source: U.S. EIA Form EIA-112, 2024 — the first year this was collected.)

Read this carefully: a high rate isn't proof a utility is ruthless. How often a utility disconnects is shaped heavily by how poor or cold its territory is, how strong its state's shutoff-protection laws are, and how well assistance programs are funded. We rank the rate because it's a real, federally reported outcome — not because it settles blame.

Key findings

Appalachian Power (APCo) (WV) had the highest disconnection rate we recorded in 2024 — about 18.6 per 100 residential customers.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) (NJ) had the lowest, about 1.3 per 100.
Across the region, 1,369,169+ households lost power for nonpayment in 2024 among the utilities reporting.
2024 is the first year the federal government collected this utility-by-utility, so treat it as a baseline that will get richer with each year.

Residential electricity disconnections by utility 2024: rate per 100 customers and raw count. Source: EIA-112.
#	Utility	State	Per 100 customers	Households shut off
1	Appalachian Power (APCo)	WV	18.6	64,766
2	Dominion Energy Virginia	VA	15.5	368,473
3	Wheeling Power	WV	14.8	5,074
4	AEP Ohio	OH	12.9	172,411
5	Appalachian Power (APCo)	VA	9.5	44,007
6	Ameren Illinois	IL	6.8	72,296
7	Delmarva Power (Delaware)	DE	6.6	19,833
8	Duke Energy Ohio	OH	5.5	38,009
9	Toledo Edison (FirstEnergy)	OH	5.1	14,302
10	FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power & West Penn — reported to the EIA as one combined company	PA	5	91,163
11	Duquesne Light	PA	4.9	26,746
12	PPL Electric Utilities	PA	4.9	62,802
13	Pepco (D.C.)	DC	4.9	15,623
14	PSE&G	NJ	4.8	98,288
15	Delmarva Power	MD	4.1	7,729
16	Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE)	MD	3.9	46,591
17	Mon Power	WV	3.6	12,205
18	The Illuminating Company (FirstEnergy)	OH	3.2	21,684
19	Potomac Edison (West Virginia)	WV	3.2	4,304
20	AES Ohio	OH	3	14,470
21	Ohio Edison (FirstEnergy)	OH	2.9	27,574
22	Atlantic City Electric	NJ	2.8	13,992
23	ComEd	IL	2.6	95,605
24	Pepco (Maryland)	MD	2.3	12,611
25	Potomac Edison	MD	2.1	5,456
26	Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L)	NJ	1.3	13,155

Ranked on disconnections per 100 residential customers. Source: U.S. EIA Form EIA-112, 2024. Download CSV · Methodology & limits

Not ranked — incomplete data

We don't drop these quietly. Two utilities we track aren't in the ranking above:

PECO Energy (PA) — Reported only 6 of 12 months for 2024 — we don't annualize a partial year into a misleading figure.
Rockland Electric (RECO) (NJ) — Did not report 2024 residential disconnection data to the EIA.

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Common questions

Which utility shuts off the most customers?: By rate, Appalachian Power (APCo) disconnected residential customers for nonpayment most often among the 26 utilities reporting complete 2024 data — about 18.6 per 100 customers (64,766 households). (Source: EIA-112, 2024.) A high rate reflects local poverty, climate, and state shutoff-protection laws as much as utility policy.
Does a high disconnection rate mean a utility is cruel?: No. Disconnection rates are heavily shaped by things outside a utility's control: how poor or cold its service area is, how strong its state's winter-moratorium and medical-protection rules are, and how well-funded assistance programs are. The rate is a real, federally reported outcome — but it isn't proof of intent, and it doesn't capture payment plans or how fast customers were reconnected.
Why rank by rate instead of total shutoffs?: Raw counts mostly just track size — the biggest utility almost always has the most shutoffs. Rate per 100 customers is the only fair way to compare how often a utility disconnects, regardless of how many customers it serves. We show the raw count too, because each one is a real household.