How is your bill
calculated?

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We use two key pieces of information to calculate how much you need to pay

Unit rate

You pay for the heat and hot water you use, which is recorded by your meter and the unit rate (p/kWh) is applied.

Standing charge

The standing charge is a fixed daily amount that contributes to the upkeep and management of the heat hub and network.

We’ll also apply VAT, the tax you have to pay when you buy goods or services, at the lower rate of 5%.

Why do I have to pay a standing charge?

The fixed standing charge on your heating bill is charged daily, regardless of whether you use the property or not. This is typical for all traditional utilities. The charge helps cover the costs of buying, maintaining, and managing the heat network, community heat hub and equipment.

We service your HIU every two years to make sure it’s working as efficiently and reliably as it should, so we can meet the standards you expect. The service and maintenance costs are included in what you pay to us. With a traditional gas boiler, you’d have to pay for maintenance or a new boiler.

Can I turn off my supply?

You are unable to turn off your supply. If the property is unoccupied, you’ll continue to be charged the standing charge and unit rate (for the keep warm function).

Your bill explained

Your bill provides details on your usage, payments made and due, and more. 
You can also quickly see how your usage changes with the seasons.

Find out more

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Moving in or
moving out

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Moving in

It’s great to welcome you to our low-carbon heat network community.

Create an account

We’ll need to know

  • The date you moved in
  • The meter readings from when you moved in (if possible)
  • Your full name
  • Your date of birth
  • The full address and postcode of your new home
  • Your phone number (either mobile or landline)
  • Your email address
  • Your Direct Debit details (or details of how else you would like to pay)

You can find out more information about Direct Debit and our other payment methods here.

Payment methods

With an online account, you can manage your personal details, monitor your usage, and make payments online.

Moving out

Saying goodbye is never easy, but we aim to make your transition as smooth as possible, wherever your next adventure takes you.

You can let us know you’re moving out by logging into your online account or by contacting us.

Log in
Contact us

What we’ll do

  • We’ll agree with you how we’ll get a final meter reading
  • We’ll read your meter on the day of your move, as long as you give us at least two working days’ notice
  • We’ll send you your final bill within five working days of your move date

Switching supplier

Since our heat network is integrated into the community, you can’t switch your heating and hot water supplier. We are committed to making energy fair, clean, and simple. You are protected by our Guaranteed Standards of Service, and all our networks are registered with Heat Trust. They will soon be regulated by Ofgem.

How we are regulated

Priority Services Register

We understand that we have customers who may need extra support, so we have developed a range of free services to help make it easier for them.

Find out how we can support you if you need extra help.

Find out more

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Making
a complaint

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We know it can be frustrating and disappointing if our service isn’t as good as it should be. We always try to do our best for you, but if things do go wrong, it’s important that you let us know so we can put it right quickly and smoothly.

How you can complain

You can log your complaint in the following ways:

By telephone: 02920 100346.
This is the most effective way as we’ll aim to resolve your complaint there and then.

Send us a contact form

Chat to us live online

By post: Metropolitan, Driscoll 2, Ellen Street, 
Cardiff, CF10 4BP.

We’re here to help

However you contact us, we aim to resolve all complaints within 10 working days.

If English isn’t your first language, we’ll always look for options to help the communication between us. This may mean it takes a little longer to resolve your questions.

Our responsibilities

If you’re unhappy with our service, we promise:

  • We’ll get back to you within 10 working days
  • We’ll pause any steps we’ we’re taking to recover an outstanding balance, if your complaint is regarding our billing
  • We’ll use any feedback to try and improve our service
  • We’ll thoroughly investigate your complaint to determine what’s happened
  • We’ll identify what the problem is and what caused it
  • We’ll find out how we can resolve the problem
  • We’ll determine if there’s any action we could take to prevent the problem happening again
  • We’ll let you know if any Guaranteed Standards of Service or compensation payment is due
  • We’ll say sorry if we made a mistake and explain what went wrong
  • If your complaint was caused by a company policy, we’ll explain it to you
  • We’ll let you know how to escalate your concerns if you’re not satisfied with how we’ve dealt with your complaint

Our Complaints Process

1

Let us know as soon as possible if you’re unhappy with our service. We aim to get back to you, in the most appropriate way, within 10 working days. If your complaint needs more investigation, it may take a little longer than 10 working days. If this is the case, we’ll always try to reduce the effect the problem has in the short term and keep you informed of any action we take for the future.

2

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint, we’ll escalate it within the company. You can ask for a manager to review your complaint at any time if our advisor hasn’t been able to help and hasn’t already offered to pass things to a manager. If we can’t settle your complaint, we’ll explain our final position. In some cases, we may send you a “deadlock” letter. This means there’s no more we can do for you. Alternatively, you can request a deadlock letter from our team.

3

If steps one and two have been followed and you’re still unhappy, and we’ve sent you a deadlock letter, or eight weeks have passed since we’ve received your complaint, you can send your complaint for free and independent review by the Energy Ombudsman. However, the Energy Ombudsman will only help resolve cases that have not been put right through our established complaints process.

The Energy Ombudsman

If you’re not satisfied with how we’ve dealt with your complaint, you can contact the Energy Ombudsman, a free and independent agency that can help.

Telephone: 0330 440 1624

Website: www.energyombudsman.org

Email: enquiry@energyombudsman.org

In writing: Energy Ombudsman, P.O. Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF

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Your tariffs

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Living on a heat network won’t cost more. We make sure our prices are fair, and we’re transparent about how your bills are calculated.

To view your tariffs, please log in to your account.

Log in

Our price promise

If your community heat hub produces heat using air source heat pumps, our price promise means you won’t pay more to heat your home than you would if you owned and maintained your own individual air source heat pump*.

If your heat hub or energy centre produces heat using gas boilers and/or CHP, our price promise means you won’t pay more to heat your home than you would if you owned and maintained your own individual gas boiler*.  To check our promise, you can use the Heat Trust Cost Calculator.

*Our price promise is based on the nearest alternative comparator for each network and is based on typical heat consumption in an average home.

Heat cost calculator

All-inclusive price

A key benefit of living on a heat network is that you pay an all-inclusive price. This includes the heat you use, plus the cost of any repairs, maintenance or replacement that may be needed.

There are no extra bills for servicing or emergencies, giving you peace of mind there won’t be any nasty surprises.

If you had a traditional gas boiler or individual heat pump, you’d have to pay extra for replacing or servicing the equipment.

Our prices include continuity of service with 
the comfort of knowing that any servicing, maintenance and future replacement costs 
are covered.

What we’ll do

  • We’ll always offer a variety of ways to pay
  • Our prices will be fair and guided by the UK Regulator for Heat
  • We’ll always let customers know at least 31 days in advance of any changes to our prices
  • We won’t review our prices more than once every six months
  • We’ll always send clear bills or statements that are easy to understand
  • We’ll support those who are struggling to pay their bills

An all-inclusive price

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Your heat
equipment
explained

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On a heat network, heating and hot water from a community heat hub is delivered to homes and businesses through a network of insulated pipes.

There’s no need to have a separate boiler in your home. Instead, you’ll have a Heat Interface Unit (HIU) and a heat meter (not all homes have a heat meter). This gives you greater control and lets you keep track of what you’re using.

Heat Interface Unit (HIU)

(not all homes have a heat meter)

Your home will have a Heat Interface Unit (HIU), which controls the transfer of heat from the network into your home. It’s similar in size to a gas boiler and delivers heat to your radiators, or underfloor heating, and hot water to your taps, showers and baths.

Inside the HIU is a heat meter that automatically sends us your meter readings, keeping things super simple for you. You’ll have a themostat so that you can keep your home at the temperature you like it.

Some HIUs have a ‘keep warm’ function that maintains regulated water temperatures. For health and safety reasons, this function cannot be turned off. It is included in the overall cost you pay to us.

The Heat Meter

The heat meter tracks your heat and hot water usage and is linked to a smart metering system that allows us to read it remotely, so your bills are based on actual readings.

You can also read this yourself if you need to. There is a screen on the front of your HIU – look for the number of kWh. 

Submit a reading

Making sure everything runs smoothly

We’ll service your HIU every two years, checking over the equipment to make sure it works as efficiently and reliably as it should. We’ll always get in touch before your service is due, to find a convenient time for your appointment.

This is covered in the cost you pay to us, there are no maintenance or upfront fees to pay, 
should things go wrong.

Responsibility of the network

If you notice a problem that means you have no heating or hot water throughout your home, just get in touch. We’re available 24/7 for emergencies.

Get in touch

We own, operate and maintain the heat network and community heat hub. If something isn’t right with the equipment inside your home, such as a tap, thermostat or programmer, this is your responsibility, or your landlords if you’re a tenant.

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What are heat
networks?

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Heat networks are helping to remove gas boilers from our homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are the way to net-zero heating and a greener future. Our community heat hubs create low-carbon heat that’s delivered to each home through a network of highly insulated underground pipes.

Community Heat Hub

The community heat hub uses electricity to generate low-carbon heat using zero-carbon ready, large scale, air source heat pumps. As the electricity grid decarbonises, so will our heat network.

The heat pumps produce up to three times more heat into the network than the electricity they use.

The thermal stores can hold thousands of litres of hot water, a key part of our smart network.

Electric boilers will serve as a back-up for every eventuality.

Heat Interface Unit

Each home has a Heat Interface Unit (HIU), which is similar in size to a gas boiler.

Two plate heat exchangers in the HIU transfer heat from the heat network into the home, and deliver heat to radiators, or underfloor heating, and hot water to taps, showers and baths. This happens instantly – there’s no need to store water in the home.

Each HIU has a heat meter inside to measure how much heat is used. The meter sends automatic readings to our system so that all bills can be based on actual meter readings.

You can also read this yourself if you need to. There is a screen on the front of your HIU – look for the number of kWh.  For more information, see “Submitting a meter reading”.

Submitting a meter reading


We’ll maintain the heat hub and network up to and including the HIU at no extra cost to the homeowner.

High Efficiency Heat Network

Heat is pumped to each home, in the form of hot water, using our highly insulated underground flow and return pipe network. This flow and return operates continuously.

Thermal Stores

We use the thermal stores in the community heat hub like a battery, to lower our electricity peak demand.

We charge our thermal stores at night, when electricity prices are at their lowest; then switch the heat pumps off during peak price times and use the supplies of hot water we’ve stored.

This storage approach is key to our Customer Price Promise and keeping heating bills affordable.

Welcome to cleaner, greener heating

Heat pumps create less CO2 than conventional heating systems, delivering…

80%

carbon savings from the day they start running*

As the electricity grid becomes zero-carbon, so will the community heat hub and network – there’s no need for retrofitting or disruptive work. Your home is already future-proofed to support zero-carbon heating.

*compared with an individual gas boiler and working to the Future Homes Standard. These carbon savings apply to our air source heat pump community heat hubs. 

Find out more

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How are we
regulated?

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We want you to feel confident and cared for when it comes to pricing and service – we’re already committed to meeting the highest standard of customer care and fairness.

How you are protected

Ofgem will regulate Heat Networks from 2025, giving you reassurance that we’ll always do our best for you. Until then, all our networks are registered with Heat Trust, offering you peace of mind and a reliable service.

Heat Trust is a voluntary scheme designed to protect customers like you, whose homes are served by a community heat network. It’s an independent consumer champion and sets out standards of service and customer care to ensure you get a fair, transparent, good-value service, and enjoy the benefits of being on a heat network. It also provides a way to resolve complaints independently through the Energy Ombudsman.

Find out more information about Heat Trust.

Heat Trust

What you can expect from us

We recognise that we are in a position of responsibility and we take this very seriously. Metropolitan has been delivering heat networks to thousands of homes and businesses for many years.

  • Exceptional customer service from our UK-based team.
  • Quick and fair resolution if anything goes wrong, with access to an independent complaint-handling service.
  • Your feedback matters to us; we’re always striving to improve our service based on what you tell us.

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Help with
paying your bills

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We know that sometimes it can be difficult to find the money to pay for heating your home. You’re not alone, and we’ve helped many people in similar situations. We promise to do all we can to help and can look at working out a plan that makes it easier. The important thing is that you talk to us and let us know as soon as possible.

Breathing space

If you need some time to get back on your feet, we might be able to pause your payments for a short while. You may be eligible if you’ve had a change in personal circumstances with an unexpected impact on your income, such as illness, redundancy, or bereavement.

If you’d like to benefit from Breathing Space, contact an independent financial advice company. We’ve listed some of them below.

Payment plans

A payment plan can help spread the cost of your heating and hot water over flexible payment periods to make it more manageable.

We’ll work with you to understand what you can afford and find the best payment plan. Together, we’ll agree on a fixed monthly amount to be paid over a set period.

Part of the money will go towards repaying your debt, and part will cover your current heating and hot water usage. This way, you can gradually pay off what you owe.

Switching to Pay As You Go

If it’s available in your home, you can pay in advance for your heat which can be a useful budgeting tool. Visit here for more information on Pay As You Go.

Learn more

Free and independent Advice

These organisations offer confidential support and free advice to help you manage your finances

Step Change

Citizens Advice

Money Advice Service

National Debt Line

Scope

If you have an outstanding balance

Daily standing charges will be added to your account even if you’re not using heating or hot water. While we’ll do all we can to help, you do still need to pay for the service you use.

If you have an outstanding balance, we’ll send reminders. If you don’t respond, we may take further action to recover the money you owe, which could include:

  • Asking a debt collection agency to recover the money
  • Asking the County Court to issue a claim against you
  • Switching you to Pay As You Go or disconnect your service

Did you know about our Priority Services Register?

We know some customers need extra help due to disabilities, vulnerabilities or changing/challenging circumstances. There are ways we can help.

Learn more

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Heating and hot
water usage

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How much heating and hot water you use in your home depends on a number of factors. This includes your property type and size, the number of people living there, your lifestyle choices, your preferred temperature and several other variables.

Your bill will show you your daily heat and hot water usage in kWh. You can use the below guide to compare your usage with the UK average household.

If you’re using more than the average and you’d like to reduce your usage, please see our helpful tips.

Heating saving tips

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Save heating,
save money

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You could reduce the amount of heating you use and save money on your bills by making some small changes around your home.

If you’re struggling to pay your heat and hot water bills, we may be able to help.

Find out more

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