If your building is connected to a district heating network (warmtenet), the Heat Act (Warmtewet) of 2014 still governs your price, your right to compensation and your complaint route in October 2026. Its successor, the Collective Heat Act (Wet collectieve warmte, Wcw), was published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees on 22 January 2026, but only a limited part entered into force on 14 February 2026; the main chapters still await a royal decree.
The most important exception is the 100-kilowatt threshold: the Heat Act only protects users with a connection of up to 100 kW, and landlords and owners’ associations supplying their own tenants or members fall almost entirely outside it. This article explains the rules that apply now and what the Wcw will change.
Table of contents
Which law applies to district heating today?
The Heat Act applies, in its consolidated version of 1 January 2026. It was substantially amended with effect from 1 July 2019, when landlords and owners’ associations were taken out of most of the Act and the rules on metering and termination were revised.
The Wcw (parliamentary file 36576) was adopted by the Senate (Eerste Kamer) in December 2025 and published as Stb. 2026, 10. A commencement decree (Stb. 2026, 31) brought a limited part into force on 14 February 2026; the consolidated text still marks many provisions as “not yet in force”. Until those provisions commence, tariffs, consumer protection and supplier duties follow the Heat Act. A transaction or tariff decision that depends on the new regime should be linked to the commencement decree, not to an expected year.
Who are the parties in a heat network?
A heat network transports heat, usually hot water, from a central source to buildings. Sources include waste incinerators, industrial residual heat, geothermal energy and large heat pumps; the building takes the heat through a delivery set (afleverset) instead of its own boiler.
Article 1 of the Heat Act distinguishes the producer, the supplier (leverancier), the network operator (netbeheerder) and the user (verbruiker). Most duties rest on the supplier, which in the Netherlands is usually part of the same group as the network operator. The in-building pipe system (inpandig leidingstelsel) runs from a central connection to each unit; who operates it determines whether the building owner is itself a supplier.
Who is protected by the Heat Act?
Under Article 1 of the Heat Act, a protected user (verbruiker) is someone with an individual connection of at most 100 kilowatt. A landlord or owners’ association with a central connection that supplies such users also counts as a user.
A business with its own connection above 100 kW, such as a hotel, an office building or a production site, is outside the definition. There is then no statutory maximum price and no statutory compensation: tariff, indexation, availability, term and termination are whatever the supply agreement says. Where contracted capacity is close to 100 kW, the figure in the connection agreement determines your legal position, so check it.
How is the maximum price set?
Under Article 5 of the Heat Act, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) sets the maximum price a supplier may charge, and publishes it in the Government Gazette (Staatscourant). It is a ceiling, not a fixed price, but many suppliers charge at or near it.
The ceiling is based on the “not more than otherwise” principle (niet-meer-dan-anders): a heat user should not pay more than a comparable household heating with gas. It consists of a usage-based charge per gigajoule and a fixed charge (vastrecht), and Article 5(3) allows the fixed part to differ for connections above 100 kW. The ACM also caps the charges for the delivery set and the meter. The maxima are set each year and move with the gas reference in both directions, so always check a figure against the ACM decision for that year.
Connection and disconnection charges
A one-off connection contribution (aansluitbijdrage) may not exceed the amount set by the ACM (Article 6 of the Heat Act). Disconnection may be charged at no more than an ACM-set tariff, which can differ for permanent and temporary disconnection (Article 4a).
The Supreme Court ruled on the line between a one-off connection charge and the recurring fixed charge (Hoge Raad 23 January 2026, ECLI:NL:HR:2026:94). It upheld the Court of Appeal’s interpretation that, in the circumstances of that case, the supply terms gave no basis for a periodic connection charge: the fixed charge relates to having and maintaining a connection, not to creating it. The ruling turned on the interpretation of the specific supply terms.
Metering and cost allocation
The supplier must provide a delivery set and, where required, an individual heat meter at no more than an ACM-set tariff (Article 8). If costs are not based on an individual meter, the supplier must use heat cost allocators on each radiator, or otherwise a cost allocation method that is transparent for all users (Article 8a).
What rights do you have on supply, outages and termination?
Under Article 2 of the Heat Act, the supplier must ensure reliable supply on reasonable terms and with good service quality, and send a complete, itemised bill at least once a year. Interruptions must be kept to a minimum, with notice of planned work.
On a serious outage caused by the supplier’s network, the delivery set, the connection or the in-building pipes, the supplier must pay compensation (Article 3a). The amounts are set by regulation and rise with the duration. No compensation is due for an outage of less than 24 hours if there was no earlier outage on the same network or delivery set in the preceding 12 months, or for an extreme situation outside the supplier’s control.
Can you terminate your heat contract?
Article 3c gives a user the right to terminate the supply agreement, unless ending the supply is technically impossible or other statutory exceptions apply. Under Article 42a, this right does not apply to agreements concluded before Article 3c entered into force on 1 July 2019.
Two judgments of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal of 24 February 2026 show the limits. In ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:1102 the court confirmed that Article 3c does not apply to a pre-2019 contract, although the supplier was held liable on other grounds for refusing to cooperate. In ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:1103 the court held that a supplier cannot rely on the risk to its small network to refuse every termination, because then nobody could ever terminate; the supplier had also failed to inform the consumer of that limit when the contract was concluded.
Where do you complain?
A protected user can take a dispute arising from a heat supply agreement to an independent disputes committee (Article 3b of the Heat Act), without losing the right to go to the civil court. For a billing dispute or a compensation claim this is the natural first step.
The ACM supervises compliance and can take enforcement action against a supplier that charges above the maximum, but it does not award individual compensation. A protected user charged above the maximum does not owe the excess and can reclaim it in the civil court.
What applies to landlords and owners’ associations?
Under Article 1a of the Heat Act, the Act does not apply to heat supplied by a landlord to their own tenants, or by an owners’ association (vereniging van eigenaars) to its members. Only the metering and billing rules (parts of Article 8, and Articles 8a and 8b) continue to apply, so the ACM maximum price, the outage compensation and the disputes committee do not.
The tenant is protected through rent law instead. Heat supplied by the landlord is charged as a service charge, which must reflect actual costs, reasonably allocated, with an annual itemised statement; the tenant can have the statement reviewed by the Rent Tribunal (Huurcommissie). For an owners’ association the discipline lies in its accounts and the decisions of the members’ meeting.
The exception only applies to that combination of roles. A building owner supplying occupiers who are not its tenants, or an energy company operating the in-building system under its own contracts with residents, falls under the full Heat Act, maximum price included. A landlord buying heat above 100 kW and selling it below that threshold also carries the gap between an unregulated purchase price and a regulated sale price, so that risk belongs in the purchase agreement.
Do suppliers need a licence?
Yes, unless an exemption applies. Article 9 of the Heat Act prohibits supplying heat to users without a licence, except for a supplier serving no more than 10 users at a time, supplying no more than 10,000 gigajoules a year, or acting as landlord or owner of the building. The licence is granted on organisational, financial and technical capability and can be revoked.
Must a new building be connected to a heat network?
There is no general statutory duty to connect a new building to a heat network. What has changed is the municipal toolkit: under the Municipal Instruments for the Heat Transition Act (Wet gemeentelijke instrumenten warmtetransitie), municipalities draw up a heat programme and can give effect to it through the environmental plan (omgevingsplan) under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet).
For a developer the real question is what the environmental plan requires at the location. Building a heat network itself requires an environmental permit for the works and agreements with the municipality on laying pipes in public land; deep geothermal energy also needs mining-law consents.
What will the Wet collectieve warmte change?
The Wcw treats district heating as public infrastructure steered by municipalities, rather than a private market needing consumer protection. Once its main chapters commence, four changes matter most:
- Public majority ownership: the Act is built around designating heat companies with a public majority interest (warmtebedrijf met een publiek meerderheidsbelang) or heat communities (warmtegemeenschappen), with transitional rules for existing private operators.
- Designation per heat area: municipalities designate one heat company per area, which becomes responsible for the network there.
- Cost-based tariffs: the link to the gas price is to be replaced in phases by tariffs based on costs; the ACM is preparing the methodology, including regulatory accounting rules.
- Landlords and owners’ associations: the Act contains separate rules for heat supplied by landlords to their tenants and by owners’ associations to their members.
Existing operators are not expropriated, but the transitional terms determine how long they can continue. Check them in the Act itself before planning a sale, joint venture or financing around them.
| Issue | Heat Act (in force now) | Wet collectieve warmte (once commenced) |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership of the heat company | No ownership requirement | Public majority interest, with transitional rules |
| Who decides where a network goes | Commercial decision | Municipality designates a heat company per area |
| Basis of the maximum price | Gas reference, set annually by the ACM (Art. 5) | Phased move to cost-based tariffs |
| Landlords and owners’ associations | Outside the Act except metering and billing (Art. 1a) | Separate rules for supply to tenants and members |
| Authorisation | Licence under Art. 9 above the thresholds | Designation per heat area |
What should you check as a heat user?
As a user, start with your connection capacity and then check the bill line by line:
- Is your connection 100 kW or less, so that the Heat Act protects you?
- Does each component of the bill (charge per gigajoule, fixed charge, delivery set, meter) stay below the ACM maximum for that year?
- Does the fixed charge match what your connection supplies, for example heating only rather than heating and hot water?
- Is any periodic connection charge actually based on your supply terms?
- Did you receive automatic compensation after a serious outage?
- Was your contract concluded after 1 July 2019, so that you can terminate under Article 3c?
What should you check as a supplier or building owner?
As a supplier, landlord or owners’ association, establish first in which capacity you supply heat:
- Do you supply only your own tenants or members (Article 1a), or others as well?
- Do you need a licence under Article 9, or does the 10-user or 10,000-gigajoule exemption apply?
- Do your metering and billing comply with Articles 8 and 8a?
- Do your terms clearly state any termination limits and connection charges before the contract is concluded?
- Have you modelled the Wcw ownership and designation rules for your existing networks and financing?
What can we do for you with district heating?
Our energy lawyers advise heat suppliers, network operators, developers, landlords and connected businesses.
- We review your heat supply agreement, including tariffs, indexation and termination clauses.
- We check your bill against the ACM maximum prices for the year concerned.
- We bring your dispute before the disputes committee or the civil court.
- We advise landlords and owners’ associations on Article 1a and the service charge rules.
- We analyse what the Wcw’s ownership and designation rules mean for your network, shareholder agreements and financing.
Summary
- The Heat Act of 2014 still governs district heating; most of the Wet collectieve warmte has not yet entered into force.
- Only users with a connection of up to 100 kW, and landlords or associations with a central connection supplying them, are protected.
- The ACM sets annual maximum prices based on the gas reference (Article 5), plus caps on connection, disconnection and metering charges.
- Landlords supplying their tenants and owners’ associations supplying their members are largely outside the Act (Article 1a).
- Disputes go to the disputes committee (Article 3b) or the civil court; the ACM enforces but does not award compensation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Wet collectieve warmte already in force?
Only in part. It was published as Stb. 2026, 10 on 22 January 2026 and a limited part entered into force on 14 February 2026, but its main chapters commence by royal decree and no date has been set. Until then the Heat Act governs supply, tariffs and consumer protection.
Am I protected by the maximum price if my connection is over 100 kW?
Not if you have your own individual connection above 100 kW: you are then not a user (verbruiker) under Article 1 of the Heat Act, and your position depends entirely on the supply agreement. A landlord or owners association with a large central connection that supplies users of up to 100 kW does count as a user.
My tenants are on the building central heat connection. Am I a heat supplier?
You supply heat, but under Article 1a of the Heat Act supply by a landlord to its own tenants falls outside almost the whole Act. Only the metering and billing rules apply. The heat costs are charged as service charges, which must reflect actual costs and can be reviewed by the Rent Tribunal (Huurcommissie).
Can I terminate my district heating contract?
Under Article 3c of the Heat Act you can, unless ending the supply is technically impossible or another statutory exception applies. The right does not apply to contracts concluded before 1 July 2019 (Article 42a), although a supplier must still act in line with the contract and its information duties.
