The NEURC approved the Rules for the use of heat energy — which benefits for the Association?
At a meeting on June 18, 2025, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission adopted an important resolution No. 888.
The main point of the resolution
- The document was developed with the involvement of government agencies, the public and district heating companies.
- Guarantees of access to heat supply systems have been established to prevent abuse by monopolists.
- The rights, obligations, payments, disputes and heat metering have been regulated.
- Standardized contracts (sale and purchase, transportation, supply) were introduced.
- A competitive model of heat supply, including independent producers, is envisaged.
Kostiantyn Bohatov, co-owner of Salix Energy LLC and UABIO Board Member, was a part of the working group that prepared this important document: “The working group spent more than a year working, there were at least 10 meetings of 2-3 hours and a lot of preparation work. In general, we can say that we have worked out this case very well and protected the interests of the Association’s members”.
How is this important for the Association?
“Finally, we have a fairly clear regulatory framework governing the connection of independent heat producers to common (mostly municipal) networks. That is, now any investor who plans to build a separate boiler house or biomass CHP plant within a large city has a roadmap for connecting to the common networks owned by another heat producer. Without exaggeration, this is a game changer, as previously large utilities denied private competitors the opportunity to use their networks. The adoption of these rules opens up the possibility of cooperation between private biomass heat producers and consumers within the city when they are not nearby“, says Kostiantyn Bohatov.
“We defended the simplified procedure for contractual relations between biomass heat producers and their consumers in cases where they worked directly with each other — and we have 99% of them. They are not obliged to sign three complex contracts (production, transportation, supply), but can continue to work under one supply agreement. Moreover, the text of this agreement approved by the NEURC is recommended, not mandatory, for them. These are real steps to simplify business for small biomass heat producers“, adds Kostiantyn Bohatov.
We are grateful to Kostiantyn Bohatov for standing up for the interests of the sector and to the NEURC for adopting a progressive document for the industry that lays the foundation for market relations in centralized heat supply systems!
