1. Assuming the price of natural gas rises to higher price levels again, the economic pressure on heating utilities will rise too.2. To ensure a high (electricity and heat) load factor of generation plants, a (less economic and with high “sunk costs” associated) grid expansion is advantageous.3. In future a combination of energy efficiency measures with decentralized heat generation seems probable resulting in economic difficulties for district heating utilities.4. A possibility of (fuel price) risk hedging is a proper designed price adjustment clause for end customers although substitution effects such as energy efficiency measures or distributed heat generation are stimulated.5. Future development of district heating is not implemented according economic parameters only, socio-political objectives will still have a significant impact.
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