Ofgem Heat Network Requirements: Registration, Reporting and Evidence

What does Ofgem require from heat network operators and suppliers?

Ofgem creates an ongoing information and evidence requirement for every relevant heat network. There are three parts to manage. 1. Registration If you already operate or supply a relevant heat network, you are already authorised. Existing operators and suppliers were automatically authorised when regulation came into force, so there was nothing to apply for. Relevant existing heat networks must now be registered with Ofgem by January 2027. For each network you need to identify who operates it and who supplies heat, then provide the information Ofgem requires for those activities. Where several organisations are involved, the operator starts the process and the relevant suppliers provide the information relating to their own supply activity. Registration records the networks and regulated activities you are already responsible for. 2. Quarterly and annual reporting Operators and suppliers of registered heat networks have ongoing data reporting requirements. Ofgem asks for information several times throughout the year, on both a quarterly and annual basis, and what it asks for depends on the role performed and the network and consumers concerned. The organisation responsible for reporting a data point often does not hold the information behind it. A supplier may need figures from its billing provider. An operator may rely on records kept by a maintenance contractor. Across an estate, a single return can draw on several organisations and systems. 3. Ongoing responsibilities and evidence Ofgem's requirements continue throughout the year and cover billing and transparency, heat supply contracts, pricing and cost allocation, complaints, support for consumers in vulnerable situations, security of supply and financial resilience. Each of these creates information, decisions or evidence that needs to stay current and findable. Exactly which requirements apply depends on the regulated activity, the network and the consumers involved. One network record for all three Registration, reporting and ongoing evidence all draw on information about the same network. What you gather for registration becomes part of the record used for reporting, and the policies, calculations, consumer information and supporting evidence sit alongside it and stay current as things change. For every network you need to know what applies, who is responsible, what information is required, who holds it, what has been provided, what needs attention, what evidence supports it and what needs to be reported. Across an estate, that information sits with property teams, finance, customer services, managing agents, operators, suppliers, billing providers and maintenance contractors. The difficulty grows with every network you add. Know who is responsible and where the information sits An operator can be responsible for network information that a maintenance contractor holds day to day. A supplier can be responsible for reported information produced by its billing provider. The regulatory responsibility stays with the relevant operator or supplier. The source tells you where to go and get it. Keeping both connected gives you a clear record of who owns the requirement and where the evidence behind it lives. Understand operator and supplier responsibilities Start with the information you already have The information Ofgem needs comes from documents, spreadsheets, existing systems and the organisations supporting your network. In practice that means policies and procedures, heat supply contracts, bills and cost information, network and property records, consumer and meter data, complaints records, financial information and the reports and spreadsheets already in circulation. Connected systems and live data can contribute too, where they already exist. You do not need new meters, a building management system connection or a live data feed to start preparing for Ofgem. The starting point is knowing what you have, where it sits and what is still needed. From scattered information to reporting-ready evidence Every network starts from a different position. Some information may already exist. Some may need review or updating. Some may need to come from another organisation, and some may still need to be collected or created. Spinview shows that position clearly and gives you a structured way to work through it. Spinview brings that together around your heat networks and does the work between what you have and what you need to produce. Bring in what you already have. Upload policies, contracts, bills, spreadsheets, reports and other supporting documents, add information directly, or connect existing data sources where that helps. Information from different teams, suppliers and systems comes together while its source stays visible. Turn documents into usable information. Spinview uses AI to extract relevant information from supported documents and structure it for review. A batch of bills, policies or supporting records becomes usable data without every field being re-keyed manually. The source stays connected to the extracted information. See what you have and what needs attention. A RAG gap analysis gives you an immediate view across each network and across the portfolio. Green means the information has been provided. Amber means something needs review. Red means it has not been provided yet. Open any item to see what is needed, what has already been supplied and where it came from. Ask instead of search. Ask Spinview lets you question the information you have brought together in plain language. Ask where a reported figure came from, find the latest complaints policy, check which networks are still missing information, or find the evidence supporting a particular response. Answers take you back to the underlying source. Turn it into the outputs you need. Reviewed information and supporting evidence are structured into the required reporting data and evidence outputs. Registration information assembles from the same base, and quarterly and annual reporting builds on what is already held rather than starting again each time. Produce the pack. Generate a structured evidence pack and reporting dataset for the relevant operator or supplier to review, with a clear trail back to where each piece of information came from. Spinview provides the technology to bring information together, extract and organise it, identify gaps and prepare reporting and evidence outputs. The relevant operator or supplier remains responsible for its regulatory obligations and submissions. Start the Readiness Builder See how Spinview works