In most cases, heat is purchased by a heat distribution company from an electricity producing company, a waste heat incineration plant, or from industry. The district heating companies transport the heat to the districts and distribute it to the end users. Several district heating companies also run their own total energy power plants.
The fifteen district heating companies have formed, together with electricity and gas distributing companies, into EnergieNed (Vereniging van Energiedistributiebedrijven in Nederland), the Association of Energy Distribution Companies in the Netherlands. EnergieNed has formed several committees giving assignments to special study groups.