What I've usually seen is they threaten to shut you off with very strong wording, and then continue to threaten you for 3-6 months before they bother to send someone out.
My experience with LG&E and Time Warner in Kentucky circa 2008 was getting a shutoff notice dated the day after the payment due date with 14 days to comply. They did in-fact shut the power off at the state date.
This was a common occurrence that people referred to as 'brown billing' because the shutoff notice had a brown header instead of the green header on your regular utility bill.
This was a common occurrence that people referred to as 'brown billing' because the shutoff notice had a brown header instead of the green header on your regular utility bill.