Heat network operators would have to set out service standards for outages and repairs from spring 2027

People who get their heating and hot water from a heat network would be told what service to expect when it breaks down, under rules Ofgem plans to bring in from spring 2027. The regulator published the proposals on Tuesday 10 November and is taking responses until 11 January 2027.

The new authorisation conditions would apply to heat network operators and suppliers with domestic and micro-business customers. Each would have to set its own standards for a list of services chosen by Ofgem, tell customers what those standards are and who is responsible for meeting them, and explain what happens if a standard is missed.

In a consumer survey Ofgem cites, half of the heat network customers surveyed said they had lost heating or hot water at some point in a 12-month period. Research by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero found that most outages lasted under 24 hours, but 16% lasted between one and three days.

What the standards would cover

Ofgem has chosen eight areas:

• making and keeping appointments, including how fast a request is answered
• notice of planned interruptions, with an interruption treated as unplanned if the promised notice is not given
• how long the operator will take to restore supply after planned and unplanned interruptions
• support during interruptions, such as alternative heating and hot water for customers in vulnerable situations
• reconnection after disconnection, once charges are paid, a deposit is provided or a repayment plan is agreed
• limits on how many interruptions, or how many hours of them, a customer should face in twelve months
• assessing and fixing faulty meters, including prepayment meters
• repairing faulty equipment such as heat interface units, with interim support while the customer waits

Ofgem's draft definition of an interruption goes beyond a total loss of supply. It would also cover heating or hot water delivered at a lower temperature or flow rate than it should be. Operators would have to keep an electronic register of every interruption, logging when it started and ended, whether it was planned, what was affected, the cause, how many customers lost service, whether any were vulnerable and what redress was given.

The regulator is also asking whether operators should use Priority Services Register information to deal first with outages affecting vulnerable customers, and whether out-of-hours arrangements should go further than taking reports.

No automatic compensation yet

Earlier consultations floated Guaranteed Standards of Performance, statutory targets backed by set compensation amounts like those that already apply in gas and electricity. Ofgem is not introducing them now. It says it does not have comparable data across the sector to set fair thresholds or payment levels, and that badly set payments could reduce the money available for improving service or end up being passed back to customers.

Instead, each operator would need a response policy setting out what it will do when a standard is not met. That could include putting things right, goodwill payments or compensation. Customers would not lose any protection they already have under a voluntary scheme or their contract, and an operator wanting to change an existing standard would have to justify it. Complaints that are not resolved could still go to the Energy Ombudsman.

What comes next

A second consultation, on how stricter standards and possible statutory payments could follow once there is enough evidence, runs until 22 February 2027. Responses to the service standards proposals go to HeatNetworksRegulation@ofgem.gov.uk, and Ofgem expects to publish its decision in spring 2027.