Ofgem heat network data reporting

Once you are registered with Ofgem, authorisation does not end the work. Authorised operators and suppliers have to report data to Ofgem on a recurring basis, so the regulator can monitor how the sector is treating consumers and check that authorised persons remain financially sound. The requirement sits under authorisation condition A9, Provision of Information to the Authority, and Ofgem set out exactly what it wants in its data reporting guidance published on 10 March 2026.

This guide lists what you have to report, when each submission is due, and which data points do not apply to you. The figures, cadences and exemptions below come directly from that guidance.

When reporting starts

Reporting does not begin at registration. Ofgem starts an authorised person’s reporting by issuing a Request for Information, after registration is complete and once the digital service supports data submission. That request is the formal notice of your reporting obligation under A9, and Ofgem has said it will only ask for data it considers necessary.

The submission functionality on the digital service is expected later in 2026. Because existing deemed-authorised networks can register at any point up to 26 January 2027, Ofgem expects you to have been recording the reportable data from April 2026 onward, and to backdate it once you can submit. For a smoother start, Ofgem will accept the data available for the April to June 2026 period when networks backdate after registering. The practical point: the data clock is already running, even though the submission window is not open yet.

The reporting cycle

You report on two cycles, quarterly and annual. When an annual submission falls due, it is made in the same window as that quarter’s submission. Unless a data point says otherwise, each figure is a snapshot taken on the last calendar day of the reporting period.

The deadline for a quarterly submission is the final day of the month after the quarter ends. The annual submission, financial resilience data aside, is always due by 30 April.

If you cannot submit by the deadline you can request an extension, which moves the window to the last calendar day of the following month.

Financial resilience data works differently. Because financial year ends vary, you submit it in the quarter your accounts are signed off or otherwise finalised, and no later than ten months after your financial year end. So if your financial year ends in the 1 January to 31 March quarter, your financial resilience data is due by the following January.

What you report, and at what level

Data is reported at two levels. Organisation level data describes the authorised business itself and is submitted once a year, no matter how many networks you run. Heat network level data is submitted for each network you operate or supply.

Financial resilience (organisation level, annual)

A yes or no on whether you hold a continuity plan compliant with the Continuity arrangements condition; a yes or no on whether you reasonably expect sufficient finance and resources to carry on for the next twelve months; net profit or loss for the previous financial year; total income; total operating expenditure; the value of liquid assets you control or can access without external sign-off; whether assets exceeded liabilities at year end; and whether you hedge fuel, and if so how far ahead and what proportion of cost.

These financial points are not required from local authorities, registered social housing providers, or industrial and self-supply networks.

General network information (heat network level, annual)

Total domestic customers; total non-domestic customers, broken down into micro-business and small-business; total prepayment meters split into smart and legacy; total heat cost allocators; total heat and cooling meters in domestic dwellings; and the number of customers with smart metering. Self-supply networks are not required to provide these.

Billing (heat network level, annual)

Billing frequency, and the number of customers by payment method, prepayment, direct debit or other. Not required from self-supply or industrial networks, or for non-domestic, micro-business and small-business consumers.

Vulnerability and debt (heat network level)

Quarterly: the number of domestic customers in debt who have met the debt trigger, meaning charges over £200 outstanding for three months or more after the bill date; self-disconnections; disconnections for non-payment; customers on a repayment plan; reconnections after debt cleared or a plan agreed; and meters involuntarily switched to prepayment.

Annual: the number of consumers in vulnerable situations on your Priority Services Register, and the total value of domestic bad debt.

Not required from self-supply or industrial networks, or for non-domestic, micro-business and small-business consumers.

Quality of service (heat network level, quarterly)

The number of complaints broken down by type, being back-billing, quality of service, customer service, vulnerability and debt and switching, pricing, and other; how many were group complaints; how many were referred to the Energy Ombudsman at eight weeks or deadlock; how many were resolved by the end of the next working day; and how many were resolved within eight weeks. Not required from self-supply or industrial networks.

Pricing (heat network level)

Quarterly: standing charges, unit rates, connection charges, other charges, flat fees, and total charges across all domestic and across all non-domestic customers.

Annual: charges for a reference customer using 6,000 kWh; your pricing methodology; the categories of cost recovered through standing charge, unit rate and flat fee; costs not passed on; funding received; fuel input type; total cost of heat generated or procured; network generation and heat procured; network demand; total revenue; and expenditure split into operating, capital and replacement, with capital and replacement optional.

Pricing data is not required from industrial or self-supply networks.

Who reports when there are several parties

Where more than one operator works on a single network, the nominated operator submits the heat network level data on behalf of the others, though each operator still submits its own financial reporting. Where a supplier provides heat to another network under a bulk supply agreement, the number of agreements is counted within non-domestic customers.

Getting it right matters

Reporting accurate data is not optional courtesy. Under regulation 62 of the 2025 Regulations, an authorised person must not provide information it knows to be false or misleading, or be reckless as to whether it is, and must tell Ofgem at the earliest opportunity if it realises it has submitted something incorrect. Estimates are acceptable for some points, for example where a network is unmetered, but the figures still have to be defensible. The practical consequence is that the systems producing these numbers need to be in place and reliable well before your first submission.

What this means for preparation

Most of these data points are not things you can reconstruct at the deadline. Debt counts, self-disconnections, complaint categories and the rest have to be captured as they happen, quarter by quarter, from April 2026 onward. The operators who find reporting straightforward will be the ones already recording against Ofgem’s exact data points. Our Ofgem Data Reporting Tracker is built around this guidance, with the quarterly and annual points laid out so you record once and submit cleanly. You can also see how reporting fits the wider picture in our authorisation conditions guide, and how it follows on from registering with Ofgem.

Frequently asked questions

What must heat networks report to Ofgem?

Authorised operators and suppliers report data across financial resilience, general network information, billing, vulnerability and debt, quality of service, and pricing, under authorisation condition A9. The exact points are set out in Ofgem’s data reporting guidance of 10 March 2026, and not every point applies to every operator.

When are the data reporting deadlines?

Quarterly data is due by the last day of the month after the quarter ends, so the windows are July, October, January and April. Annual data, financial resilience aside, is due by 30 April. Financial resilience data is due in the quarter your accounts are signed off, no later than ten months after your financial year end.

How does Ofgem request the data?

Ofgem issues a Request for Information after you have registered. That request is the formal notice of your reporting obligation under condition A9. Reporting through the digital service is expected to open later in 2026.

Who is exempt from heat network data reporting?

Exemptions depend on the data point. Local authorities, registered social housing providers and industrial and self-supply networks are not required to submit the financial resilience points. Self-supply and industrial networks are excluded from much of the network level reporting, as are non-domestic, micro-business and small-business consumers for several points.

When does data reporting start?

After registration and once the digital service supports submission, expected later in 2026. Because the data is reported in arrears, Ofgem expects networks to have recorded reportable data from April 2026 and to backdate it after registering.