Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is providing several smart features from its Smart Living initiative. They help customers to monitor their electricity and water consumption and choose smart conservation options, without needing to contact DEWA. This is part of DEWA’s efforts to promote sustainability by instilling a culture of conservation. It also enriches customers’ experiences and provides value-added services.

The initiative informs customers about billing and consumption by providing clear information on bills and their components, while explaining why consumption is high. These include seasonal differences in consumption, high-energy-using appliances such as air conditioners, water leaks, filling swimming pools or having several connections at home to one smart meter. The initiative provides a digital control dashboard to monitor consumption through the smart app or website, as well as providing tips and proactive plans to conserve consumption.

The initiative uses a proactive mechanism to interact with customers who have smart electricity and water meters. It enables them to monitor their consumption and get daily, monthly, and annual reports. It also helps them select the date and time to conduct a field visit, identify the location accurately, and track the service request status. This is done through the ‘My Sustainable Living Programme,’ which enables residential customers to compare their monthly electricity and water use with the average consumption of similarly efficient homes, and make informed decisions based on current data, with other highly efficient homes. This inspires healthy competition among customers to reduce their consumption. Customers can access the My Sustainable Living Programme by logging onto their account on DEWA’s website or smart app, and updating their Consumption Pattern file to benefit from conservation tips, tailored to each customer.

“DEWA works in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote a conservation culture and protect natural resources.

“As a socially responsible government organisation, throughout the year DEWA launches initiatives and conservation programmes using the latest Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies; supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data. This enables customers to increase the efficiency of their water and electricity consumption and adopt a sustainable lifestyle. It also reduces the carbon footprint, achieves the Demand Side Management Strategy to reduce 30% of demand by 2030, and DEWA’s vision to become a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation...”