Germany’s heat network package is delayed: district heating customers are still waiting for price oversight and clear price clauses

What has been decided on the heat network package and what is missing

On 26 August 2026 the German cabinet adopted key points for a heat network package: ex-post price oversight by a federal authority, a price transparency platform for all heat suppliers, an arbitration body, clearer price adjustment clauses and a special right of termination where networks are not yet sufficiently decarbonised. The AVBFernwärmeV and FFVAV regulations are to be merged into a new Heat Networks Act. As of early November there is still no draft bill. On 4 November the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs told ZfK it could “not yet name a new status”. What already applies to price increases today is explained in the guide to the ECJ ruling on district heating.

Which tenants, landlords and businesses on district heating are affected

Every household and business connected to a heat network is affected, above all homeowners’ associations, landlords and companies whose contracts contain price escalation clauses. Since the ECJ struck down the German Federal Court of Justice’s three-year rule for consumer contracts on 24 September, there has been no statutory rule on what applies when a clause is invalid. Landlords are waiting too: the key points would let them pass on up to 50 cents per square metre per month when replacing a heating system or switching from gas storey heating to district or local heating. Without a law, the existing cost-neutrality requirement remains in force.

Why the delay hits district heating customers in the middle of the heating season

The timing is unfortunate. With gas above 100 euros per megawatt hour at the end of October, wholesale prices feed through to district heating with a delay via many suppliers’ price formulas. Price oversight was designed for exactly this situation. “Anyone paying for district heating gets neither price oversight nor a transparency platform this winter. The only scrutiny remains what a customer takes to court themselves.” — Pedram Dadgar, strategic adviser to Green Contracting GmbH.

The ministry is right to want to work carefully, as earlier attempts to reform the district heating regulation failed. But suppliers and customers need the same answer: which clause holds? Until then, courts decide case by case, most recently the Higher Regional Court of Hamm on 12 October on Eon’s price clauses. Disclosure: Pedram Dadgar advises Green Contracting GmbH, which also offers heat contracting as an alternative to district heating.

What to do now

1. Find the price adjustment clause in your own district heating contract and check whether the cost and market elements are comprehensible.
2. Object to price increases in writing and pay them under reservation so that refund claims do not become time-barred.
3. As a landlord, do not plan a heating switch around the 50-cent rule until a draft bill exists.