Delivering high-quality heat networks and driving up standards is essential for achieving government objectives on reducing carbon and cutting heating bills, addressing fuel poverty and ensuring a good return on government investment.

Comprehensive regulation is vital to building consumer trust in heat networks – a key enabler for the government’s target of supplying 20% of homes through heat networks by 2050. This is particularly important because heat networks are natural monopolies whose consumers can't switch supplier.

Strong foundations

Heat Trust is widely recognised as the consumer champion for heat networks in Great Britain, whose standards have a positive impact on consumer outcomes.

We have unsurpassed collective knowledge of this complex, diverse and growing sector. We've been putting in place the foundations of robust regulations that will protect consumers while allowing the market to flourish in the future.

Unique perspective

As experts in consumer protection, we're uniquely qualified to bring an objective consumer perspective to the conversation between government, Ofgem and industry about coming regulation.

Heat Trust is the only heat network code of conduct that is comparable with gas and electricity market standards, has an independent committee to oversee its standards, uses independent audits to check compliance and publishes performance data each year on complaints and outages.

Proven approach

Our Scheme's registered heat networks are increasingly diverse in size, ownership and technology (type of heat source). They:

• Range in size from tens to thousands of connected consumers
• Include sites for all energy service companies (ESCOs), as well as heat networks run by local authorities and housing associations
• Include heat networks powered by gas, Combined Heat and Power (gas or biomass) and heat pumps.

We also provide the first and only publicly available Heat Cost Calculator, a critical instrument for government and consumers in assessing value in the market.