Government fears legal backlash over early hydrogen heat decision

The government is resisting pressure to take an early decision on hydrogen for home heating due to fears that it could spark a legal challenge.

Utility Week understands that government officials have expressed concern that any move to accelerate a decision on the future home heating mix could leave ministers open to a judicial review from gas companies.

The government has set 2026 as the date for making a strategic decision on the roles that hydrogen will play in domestic heating.

To inform this decision, ministers set out a timetable for progressively large hydrogen heating trials.

However plans to run village-scale trials in the north west and Redcar have both been cancelled while proposals a town-scale pilot were put on ice by ministers last month.

The abandonment of the trials has prompted calls by heat pumps advocates to bring forward the decision on hydrogen’s role in heating.

But an industry source told Utility Week that officials have privately expressed concern that any move to rule out hydrogen in home heating will prompt a judicial review by gas companies.

He said that the mooted trials were partly designed to provide the evidence in order to safeguard against the risk of a High Court challenge.

However the cancellation of trials has put this attempt to assemble such an evidence base in a “very shaky position”, he said.

Adam Bell, a former head of energy policy at the BEIS (business, energy and industrial strategy) also believes it is “very plausible” that officials would be concerned about the risk of a judicial review over the home heating decision.

Bell, who is now head of policy at the consultancy Stonehaven, said: “They (officials) will have a duty to demonstrate that they’ve taken a rational decision.

“If there is a reason to believe that they have not taken a rational decision, they will find themselves in a problematic state so I can completely see why they might be worried about that.”

Richard Lowes, senior associate at The Regulatory Assistance Project NGO, agreed that there is a risk of judicial review surrounding the 2026 decision.

The potential ramifications of any decision to rule out mass use of hydrogen in home heating for the gas network means that the decision-making process must be handled carefully with plenty of opportunities for consultation, he said: “It’s an investable proposition so it’s quite sensible for government to let it (the decision) run its course.”

The news surrounding the 2026 decision has emerged as Hydrogen UK has published its general election manifesto.

A series of recommendations, which the trade body says should be carried out by the government within its first 100 days, includes a call for a minister with dedicated responsibility for hydrogen in order to provide the fledgling sector with greater clarity and accelerate investment decisions.