It is correct that the draft bill for the Building Modernisation Act continues to regard district heating as a key pillar of the heat supply. However, anyone seeking to strengthen district heating politically must not ignore the existing competition issues in the district heating market. Otherwise, there is a risk that a market characterised by local monopoly structures will continue to gain prominence without consumers being adequately protected.
The Monopolies Commission has put forward specific proposals to address this: the most important of these are a mandatory price transparency platform and an unbureaucratic price cap. Furthermore, the market as a whole should be structured to be more competitive by granting third parties access to the network, awarding rights of way through competitive tendering processes, and creating a level playing field for heating technologies in rented properties through a reform of the Heat Supply Ordinance (WärmeLV). These reforms are not merely peripheral additions, but a prerequisite for ensuring that a stronger role for district heating is also competitively viable.
The strengthening of district heating must therefore be accompanied by clear competition policy measures.
- Tomaso Duso, Chair of the Monopolies Commission
