How to register a heat network with Ofgem

Before you start: are you in scope, and in which role?

Ofgem regulates two roles. The operator is the organisation that has control over, and responsibility for, the transfer of thermal energy on the network. The supplier is the organisation responsible for the contractual and customer-facing arrangements for supplying heating, cooling or hot water to consumers. One organisation often holds both roles, and then it registers both activities.

District networks serving two or more buildings, communal networks inside one building divided into separate premises, self-supply and industrial networks, and shared ground loop networks are all in scope. A few arrangements are not, such as a single house in multiple occupation or a converted building under 45 kW. Ofgem’s who should register page has the definitions, and our registration checker tells you in four questions whether a network must be registered and which conditions would then apply.

How registration works

1. Nominate a regulatory contact. Each operator or supplier nominates one: typically the most senior person responsible for heat networks. They set up the account with their own work email address (not a shared mailbox), can invite other users and set their permissions, and remain responsible for what is submitted.
2. Create the organisation’s account. Access is through Ofgem’s register or sign in page and a GOV.UK One Login. The service has been open since April 2026 and Ofgem is widening access through the year, so follow the steps on that page as they stand today.
3. Enter the organisation’s details and declarations. Organisation type, ownership (including any parents of a joint venture or special purpose vehicle), financial information, continuity plans, and the fit and proper declaration covering everyone with significant managerial responsibility.
4. Add each heat network. Registration is per network. A portfolio of fifty schemes means fifty network registrations, each with its own identifier.
5. Operator first, then supplier. Where the operator and supplier are different organisations, the operator registers the network first and invites the supplier, who then registers the supply activity. A supplier cannot complete its registration before that invitation.
6. Suppliers: join the Energy Ombudsman scheme. Ofgem states that an organisation whose role includes supply must also register with the Energy Ombudsman’s heat network supplier scheme.

Ofgem does not ask you to upload supporting documents or evidence. Registration is a set of answers and declarations, so the work is in having accurate answers ready.

What Ofgem asks for

Ofgem publishes the full list of information for each stage, and it is the authoritative version: information you need to complete registration. In outline it covers:

• Your organisation: type, Companies House number, address, regulatory contact; ownership and any parent organisations; continuity plans.
• Finances: accounting dates, signed-off accounts, expected sustainability over the next twelve months, recent profit or loss, liquid assets, assets against liabilities, running costs and income, and energy hedging.
• Fit and proper: a declaration that everyone with significant managerial responsibility or influence meets Ofgem’s criteria, with a process to keep it that way.
• Each network: the activities you carry out on it, whether it is a shared ground loop, where consumers are, the network type and when service began, whether another supplier is involved; the energy centre, services provided, capacity and heat technology.
• Customers and consumer protection: domestic and non-domestic mix, small or micro businesses, prepayment meters, any metering or billing agent; vulnerable customers and the Priority Services Register, complaints procedure, support for payment difficulty; billing frequency and bill content.

Much of this is information you hold anyway. Gathering it per network before you start, and agreeing the financial figures with whoever signs off your accounts, is what makes registration quick.

Service notices from Ofgem

Ofgem is still developing the service, and some changes affect who can register and when. As of 3 October 2026, Ofgem’s stakeholder update says:

• Shared ground loop networks can now be registered. This part of the service was not available at first and is now live.
• Some district networks with embedded communal networks should pause. If your organisation is both the operator and supplier of a district network serving several buildings, at least one of those buildings contains a communal network, and your organisation is the only operator and supplier of at least one of those embedded communal networks, Ofgem has asked you to pause registering those networks until it issues a further update. You can still create your account, and Ofgem will keep you informed through it.

Check Ofgem’s help and support page for the current position, or email heatnetworksregulation@ofgem.gov.uk if you are unsure whether a notice applies to you.

After registration

Registration is the beginning of regulation, not the end of it. Once registered you carry the authorisation conditions for your role, you report data to Ofgem regularly, and you must tell Ofgem about material changes: handing the operator or supplier role to another organisation, decommissioning a network, or changing its fuel, energy centre, connected buildings or customer types. Some changes, such as users and new fit and proper declarations, are made in the service itself. Ofgem’s what happens after registration page sets this out, and our heat network compliance guide covers the obligations in full.

Ofgem’s pages

• Register or sign in: the service itself, and the current steps to get access.
• Who should register: roles, network types and exemptions.
• How to prepare for registration: the regulatory contact and account setup.
• Information you need to complete registration: the full list, stage by stage.
• What happens after registration: ongoing obligations and changes to notify.
• Heat networks regulation: registration guidance (23 January 2026): the formal guidance document on condition A4.
• Help and support: contacts for registration and technical queries.

Links checked on 3 October 2026. These are Ofgem’s pages and Ofgem’s process; where anything here differs from what Ofgem says today, follow Ofgem.

Common questions