Ofgem has proposed that heat network operators and suppliers serving homes and micro-businesses must set measurable service standards from spring 2027, with a consultation open until 11 January 2027.
The regulator said on Tuesday that it wants to add two new conditions to the general authorisation conditions that apply to heat network operators and suppliers. One would cover suppliers and the other operators.
Where a supplier also runs the network, it would have to meet the supplier condition in both roles.
Under the proposals, each authorised company would have to have standards for specified service activities, communicate them clearly to consumers and explain how it will respond when they are not met. Ofgem described the plan as “an initial step in our staged approach to improving service quality, transparency and accountability”.
The draft conditions list ten matters: making appointments, keeping appointments, notice of interruptions, expected restoration times, support during interruptions, restoration of supply, reconnection after disconnection, multiple interruptions, faulty meters and faulty heat interface units.
Each standard would have to be specific and measurable, as well as fair and appropriate to the size and characteristics of the network and the needs of its consumers.
Companies would have to keep records for at least five years that allow their performance against the standards to be assessed. They would also have to review the standards at appropriate intervals, and any change would need to be capable of objective justification.
Where a supplier is not the operator, or not the only operator, of a network, its standards may leave out a matter only if it is more appropriate for an operator to cover it and the supplier has used all reasonable endeavours to co-operate.
Standards must still be in place for every specified matter across the network.
Ofgem said it is not proposing to mandate automatic compensation for service failures. It also said the conditions should not result in consumers losing existing protections or redress.
A separate consultation, open until 22 February 2027, asks how standards of performance for heat networks should develop. That includes whether more prescriptive requirements, such as statutory guaranteed standards of performance, should be introduced.
Ofgem said it does not propose statutory guaranteed standards at this stage, and that it intends to use the new conditions to help build the evidence base for future standards.
Ofgem is inviting views from heat network operators and suppliers, energy services companies, housing providers, housing associations, local authorities, landlords, managing agents, charities, consumer advocacy groups and heat network consumers.
It is seeking views on its approach to service standards, on the requirements for implementing and communicating them and responding when they are not met, and on how guidance could support consistent implementation across the sector.
Responses are accepted by email to the Ofgem heat networks regulation team.
The service standards sit alongside separate technical rules being developed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Its Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme will be phased in over time, with a planned launch in 2027.
The department notes that, under the Energy Act 2023, Ofgem will be the regulator of heat networks.
The first wave of the technical assurance pilot programme, which included eleven new build pilots, has concluded.
Consultation responses on the service standards conditions are due by 11 January 2027.