Heat networks

Your regulatory obligations 

Registration does not replace the need to understand and comply with the regulatory requirements that apply to heat network suppliers and operators. 

You should make sure you’re familiar with the heat network authorisation conditions, which set out the rules you must follow. You’re responsible for understanding how these conditions apply to your organisation and for complying with them. 

Find out more about our heat networks compliance approach. 

Providing data as part of your ongoing responsibilities 

As part of the regulatory framework, you’ll be required to provide us with information and data on an ongoing basis. We call this ‘data reporting’.  
 
Data reporting supports monitoring, compliance activity and the effective regulation of heat networks. It also means our information remains up to date. 

Tell us if things change  

If certain details about your heat network or organisation change after you have registered, you must notify us. You can make other changes directly in the digital service. 

Keeping your registration information up to date helps ensure our records remain accurate and that we can contact you when required. 

Changes you should contact us about 

We would like you to contact us about material changes that impact your regulatory role or responsibilities. 

Material changes are significant changes that can affect your ability to meet the regulatory rules. 

Transfer of heat network operator or supplier responsibilities to another organisation 

An example of this change is selling a residential block of flats with a communal heat network. You may need to transfer operator and supplier authorisation to the new building owner. 

Removing heat networks 

An example of this change is decommissioning a heat network or demolishing the building containing a communal heat network. 

Other material changes to heat networks, an operator or a supplier 

Examples of other material changes include: 

• starting bulk supply activities 
• a different energy centre fuel or technology 
• adding or removing an energy centre 
• adding or removing connected buildings 
• adding or removing a parent organisation 
• supplying a different type of customer (for example, domestic customers such as households, or non‑domestic customers like commercial or public sector organisations) 
• changing the type of network (for example, no longer being classified as self-supply or industrial) 

Changes you can make manually in the digital service 

You can change some information about your organisation directly in the digital service, as it does not impact your responsibilities. This includes: 

• adding, removing and managing users 
• submitting new significant managerial responsibility or influence (SMRI) declarations 

Errors during registration 

If you identify an error in the information you provided during registration, and are unable to update this information yourself, then you must tell us so that we can correct it. 

Other changes 

If you need to make changes to an individual heat network, you’ll need to contact us as you cannot make these changes directly in the digital service. 

Changes you do not need to tell us about 

You do not need to tell us about changes to information you submitted during registration, if we’ll also collect that information through data reporting.  

For example, you do not need to tell us about changes to: 

• the number of customers you supply (unless you supply a new type of customer)  
• the number of customers on prepayment meters 

You can view the full list of data points we’ll collect in our data reporting guidance. 

How to report changes to us 

If you’ve identified an error or change, tell us by emailing heatnetworks.enquiries@ofgem.gov.uk. 

Include the following information in your email: 

• organisation name 
• heat network authorisation ID (for example, HND1000000) 
• name of any heat networks impacted 
• a short description of the change