April 2025 Brings New Protections for Heat Network Customers
mySycous are very excited that the first part of new regulations for heat networks has come into force, with more to follow!
From 1st April 2025, Citizens Advice for England and Wales alongside Consumer Scotland for Scottish customers, are officially the advocate and advice provider for residential customers and microbusinesses connected to heat networks.
You can find out more information from Citizens Advice on their new webpage for heat network customers (https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/problems-with-your-energy-supply/if-your-home-is-on-a-heat-network/).
Customers in Scotland benefit from Consumer Scotland, with support available through Advice Direct Scotland at https://energyadvice.scot, providing that point of contact and support for customers who might not have experienced heat networks before or need some additional support.
This all means that when you feel you might not be treated fairly by your heat supplier, you have somewhere independent to turn for advice and support, complimenting support provided through your heat supplier.
There is also more support when things don’t go to plan, with the Energy Ombudsman (https://www.energyombudsman.org/how-we-can-help/heat-networks) providing an independent service for resolving disputes that arise from 1st April 2025. This is now available for residential customers and microbusiness customers who are in dispute with their heat network supplier. It is important to remember, you must contact your heat supplier to find a resolution before contacting the Energy Ombudsman.
If you are a tenant or leaseholder of a social landlord, you can still get help from other dispute resolution services, including the Housing Ombudsman (https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk), the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (https://www.ombudsman.wales), LEASE (https://www.lease-advice.org) and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (https://www.spso.org.uk).
We will also see from January 2026 that Ofgem will take on their role to enforce regulations across heat networks, as they already do in the electricity and gas markets. This regulation will aim to provide heat network customers with similar protections to gas and electricity customers, and will focus on, good customer service, improving reliability of energy supply, transparent / easy to understanding bills and fair pricing. You can find out more information from Ofgem’s website on their progress to full heat network regulation (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/heat-networks).
In the meantime, we are happy to help support you in any issue you might be experiencing, just Get in Touch (https://mysycous.com/get-in-touch) and you can also make a complaint (https://mysycous.com/want-to-make-a-complaint) with our team.
