{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/draft-domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-scheme-amendment-regulations-2017/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/draft-domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-scheme-amendment-regulations-2017/note.json",
  "legislation": "ukdsi/2017/9780111156353",
  "legislation_title": "The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2017",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/draft-domestic-renewable-heat-incentive-scheme-amendment-regulations-2017",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of these Regulations)\nThese Regulations apply to Great Britain and amend the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2014 (‘the 2014 Regulations’). They introduce a number of changes including: changes to the electricity metering requirements for heat pumps; limits on the maximum amount of heat that is eligible for support; increasing the tariffs for all technologies except solar thermal; changes to the method for calculating ‘degression’ reductions in tariff rates; changes to the structure of metering and monitoring agreement payments; and giving the Authority (Ofgem) powers to withhold metering and monitoring payments where there is non-compliance and to recover or offset payments in specified circumstances.\nRegulation 3 adds definitions for “metering and monitoring lump sum payment”, “MM payments”, “on-board meter” and “second relevant date” and amends the definitions of “eligible electricity meter”, “eligible gas meter”, “eligible heat meter”, “eligible oil meter”, “heat meter”, “Measuring Instruments Directive”, “metering and monitoring payment”, “initial tariff”, and “subsequent tariff”.\nRegulation 4 introduces requirements for heat pumps applying for accreditation on or after the second relevant date to have electricity meters installed. Installation or checking of any such meters (other than on-board meters) must be carried out by an installer certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (‘MCS’) (or equivalent) and the meters must be properly calibrated and installed, and in good working order. Electricity meters must have a label that identifies what is being metered.\nRegulation 5 provides that, in respect of the certification requirements for plants which are heat pumps, version 5.0 of the Microgeneration Installation Standard for heat pump systems is a relevant installation standard.\nRegulation 6 excludes meters fitted to comply with the eligibility criteria for heat pumps in relation to electricity meters and on-board meters on and after the second relevant date from the metering and meter positioning requirements of regulations 14 and 16 of the 2014 Regulations.\nRegulation 7 introduces a requirement for accreditation applications for heat pumps to include a declaration that electricity meters have been installed, as required by regulation 4, except where the plant is a replacement plant with an RHI date predating the coming into force of these regulations.\nRegulation 8 makes provision for determining what the applicable initial tariff or subsequent tariff is when calculating an accredited domestic plant’s RHI payment for a quarterly period that straddles the second relevant date.\nRegulation 9 amends the calculation of deemed annual heat generation by introducing technology-specific limits for ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, and biomass plants on the amount of heat generated by the plant that is eligible for RHI payments each year.\nRegulation 10 provides that notwithstanding that the start date for an accredited domestic plant’s tariff may fall into the period beginning on 1st April 2017 and ending on the day before these regulations come into force, that plant’s initial tariff for the period starting on the second relevant date and ending on 31st March 2018 will be increased to that set out in the substituted Schedule 5 (tariffs) to the 2014 Regulations. Where an accredited domestic plant’s tariff start date falls into the period beginning on the second relevant date and ending on 30th June 2017, that plant’s initial tariff will be that set out in Schedule 5 to the 2014 Regulations.\nRegulation 11 amends regulation 35 of the 2014 Regulations in consequence of the substitution of Schedule 5 to the 2014 Regulations.\nRegulation 12 simplifies the calculation of ‘B’ for the purposes of calculating a plant’s initial tariff.\nRegulation 13 simplifies the drafting for the calculation of a plant’s subsequent tariff and makes provision for plants whose tariff start date is on or after 14th December 2016 but before 1st April 2017 to be able to receive the higher tariffs in the substituted Schedule 5 to the 2014 Regulations.\nRegulation 14 imposes an obligation on participants whose plants are a heat pump with an RHI date falling on or after the second relevant date to declare each year that each eligible electricity meter or on-board meter required under regulation 5 of the 2014 Regulations is in good working order.\nRegulation 15 changes the structure of metering and monitoring agreement payments in respect of registrations given on and after the second relevant date. Participants who are registered may receive the same total value of payments but more of the money will be paid early on. Where registration is given, the Authority (Ofgem) is required to pay participants an ‘upfront’ lump sum payment of £700 and up to £100 during each eligible 12 month period for a metering and monitoring biomass boiler. For an accredited domestic plant which is a heat pump, £805 is payable upfront followed by ongoing payments of £115. Only one lump sum payment is payable in respect of a given accredited domestic plant.\nRegulation 16 amends one of the circumstances in which the Authority is exempted from the duty to give registration of a metering and monitoring agreement. The annual budget-based limit on registrations has been replaced with a limit on the total number of metering and monitoring agreements, being 11,255.\nRegulation 17 gives the Authority the power to withhold metering and monitoring payments and lump sum payments if the Authority has reasonable grounds to suspect that specified metering and monitoring registration requirements are not being met. Where this power is exercised, the Authority must give notice specifying its reasons for doing so, the amount to be withheld and from when, any steps the participant must take to satisfy the Authority that payments should no longer be withheld and by when, the consequences of a failure to take those steps, and the participant’s right of review. If the Authority is subsequently satisfied that payments should no longer be withheld, it must resume payments and may repay any withheld payments.\nRegulation 18 provides that registration may be withdrawn in two additional circumstances: where the Authority has withheld metering and monitoring payments or a metering and monitoring lump sum payment, or it has withheld RHI payments, and in either circumstance the participant has failed to comply with the steps specified in the relevant notice given by the Authority. Regulation 17 also gives the Authority power to require a participant to repay metering and monitoring payments that were made to them on or after the second relevant date, where the Authority decides to withdraw registration. The regulation further provides that, where the Authority is satisfied metering and monitoring registration was given as a result of incorrect information relating to the eligibility of the metering and monitoring equipment, the Authority may require a participant to repay any lump sum they received in connection with their metering and monitoring agreement. In either instance, the Authority may alternatively require the participant to offset the payments against any future RHI payments rather than demand repayment. If the Authority does decide to take such action, they must notify the participant, providing relevant details.\nRegulation 19 makes three minor clarifications to regulation 58 (power to withhold RHI payments in the case of non-compliance) of the 2014 Regulations.\nRegulation 20 provides that the Authority’s powers to revoke sanctions include where it has imposed sanctions under regulations 54A (power to withhold MM payments) and 55 (withdrawal of registration and repayments) of the 2014 Regulations.\nRegulation 21 updates Schedules 5 (tariffs) and 6 (expenditure for individual technologies). Except for solar thermal (which is only increased by the Consumer Prices Index), the technology-specific tariffs for the purposes of regulations 34, 35 and 37 of the 2014 Regulations are increased and new threshold values for expenditure for individual technologies are provided.\nRegulation 22 amends the requirement in Paragraph 6 (requirements for presentation of information) of Schedule 7 to the 2014 Regulations so that information recorded under a metering and monitoring agreement must be updated automatically within one month of being recorded.\nFurther details about the Microgeneration Certification Scheme can be found online at www.microgenerationcertification.org. Documents published on that website are also available from Gemserv Limited at 8 Fenchurch Place, London EC3M 4AJ.\nA full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy at 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2017/9780111156353/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-30T15:06:33.880966+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}