Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate the heat network industry.

The Clean Growth Strategy, published in 2017, committed to assessing a heat network future market framework. An industry taskforce, organised by the Association for Decentralised Energy, published a report in January 2018 on options to improve the sector. The CMA is also currently investigating how well the sector delivers for consumers with its final report to be published this summer. My Department will consider the recommendations from both in developing an appropriate future market framework that will deliver benefits and protections for consumers and growth for the sector.

District heating has significant potential to reduce energy bills and carbon. We are investing £320m in the sector through the Heat Networks Investment Project launching in the autumn to ensure consumers benefit from this opportunity and get a fair deal; a number of pilot projects have already received funding.