Electric-heated buildings have been classified as critical infrastructure: what the government’s decision means for consumers

Houses with electric heating have already been officially classified by the government as critical infrastructure facilities, and in the near future they will not be disconnected under scheduled outage plans, except in emergency situations. This decision has been formally recorded by the Cabinet of Ministers and the relevant crisis headquarters, as reported in the Verkhovna Rada by the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.

Content and legal nature of the decision
Shmyhal’s wording means that:
the decisions on classifying houses with electric heating as critical infrastructure have already been adopted at the level of the government and the crisis headquarters and recorded in the corresponding minutes.
the next step is the technical inclusion of such houses in the lists of critical infrastructure facilities approved and applied by regional military administrations, the Kyiv City Military Administration and distribution system operators.

Legally, the classification of facilities as critical infrastructure is carried out through:
government decisions and secondary legislation (resolutions, protocol instructions, orders of the Ministry of Energy) that set the criteria for priority power supply.
updating regional lists of critical consumers, which serves as the basis for excluding them from scheduled outage plans.

Practical implications for residents
The key effect for residents of houses with electric heating is as follows:
such houses will not be subject to planned hourly or rolling outage schedules that are directly used to balance the system during peak hours.
residents can count on more stable electricity supply during the heating season, since in their case electricity is effectively the only way to ensure heating and prevent systems from freezing.

At the same time, the minister emphasized an important exception:
in the event of emergency or technical outages, as well as large-scale damage to the energy infrastructure, power cuts remain possible for all categories of consumers, including critical facilities.
the decision does not provide “absolute immunity” from power and grid failures, but only establishes a special regime regarding scheduled outages.

Reasons and context of the energy crisis
The need for this step is directly related to:
mass missile and drone attacks by Russia on Ukraine’s power system and a sharp increase in capacity deficit, which led to the introduction of an emergency situation in certain regions.
severe frosts, which simultaneously increased electricity consumption and made outages particularly painful for households with electric heating.

Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko previously emphasized that the government is working on classifying such houses as critical infrastructure precisely to ensure uninterrupted heating for the population under emergency conditions. In parallel, the government has been revising the list of facilities with priority power supply, removing from it accompanying-load consumers that in fact do not have signs of criticality, which has made it possible to free up additional capacity in the grid.

Impact on the power system and other consumer categories
Including residential buildings with electric heating in critical infrastructure changes the balance of priorities in the system:
part of the load that previously could be disconnected under general schedules now moves into the category of “guaranteed” or maximally prioritized electricity supply.
to compensate for this step, the government has already initiated a reduction in the list of other facilities that had priority but were not vital, thereby freeing about one gigawatt of capacity.

For other household consumers this means that:
outage schedules may remain strict or even be partially tightened, as the share of load that can be disconnected has narrowed.
regional operators and regional military administrations must more actively adjust supply schemes, install generators and backup lines for facilities that have been removed from critical lists but remain socially important.

Risks, expectations and communication with citizens
Despite the positive nature of the decision for households with electric heating, a number of risks remain:
in the event of further destruction of the energy infrastructure, even the status of a critical facility does not guarantee uninterrupted power, since large-scale emergency outages or physical damage to networks are possible.
implementation of the decision depends on the prompt updating of lists at the local level, the proper operation of distribution system operators and the actual technical condition of the networks.

At the same time, the government’s position demonstrates an attempt to:
provide targeted support to the most vulnerable category of household consumers – residents of houses where heating fully depends on electricity, and therefore outages create a risk not only of discomfort, but also of damage to heating systems and threats to life and health.
maintain a balance between the needs of the population and the technical capabilities of the power system by reallocating critical infrastructure status from less sensitive facilities to the residential sector.

If you have any questions or issues related to the application of this decision in your specific case, the formalization of the status of a house with electric heating, actions in case of unlawful outages or appeals against decisions of distribution system operators, it is advisable to seek individual legal and energy advice in order to assess the risks and develop the best strategy to protect your rights.
Author – Svitlana Krutorohova, attorney at the law firm “Legal Company ‘WINNER’”.