Trade Arabia reported that Abu Dhabi will unveil a new utility bill for its customers starting from next month that will provide more information mainly on managing their water and power consumption across the emirate.
A statement from Abu Dhabi Regulation and Supervision Bureau said that all the water and electricity customers will receive separate utility bills showing the government subsidy. In addition residential customers will have two consumption bands indicating an ideal average and above ideal average range of consumption.
Mr Nicholas Carter DG of RSB said that “With an upward trend in population and economic growth the Abu Dhabi government is aware of the pressure this puts on the country’s resources. Steps taken now will help ensure the continuous and secure supply of water and electricity into the future. As the tariff stays the same, the new bill is one way to address consumption and influence long term behavioral change.”
To ensure customers are not taken by surprise an information campaign will introduce the new bill before the March go live date which highlights the key changes and addresses concerns and questions that many customers may wish to ask. Based on an energy consumption theme, the campaign introduces two consumption symbols as tools for behavior change.
The consumption bands give residential customers an average range to benchmark their water and electricity use essentially a tool to manage consumption, depending on whether they live in an apartment or villa.
The green tick symbol shows the ideal-average and the red exclamation symbol indicates the above ideal average. Whether they are in the green or in the red, customers can adjust their electricity and water use to keep within the ideal range for their type of property.
While nationals continue to receive free water for nominal prices, the new bill will be sent to them as an information tool to help build awareness around consumption.
Mr Mohammed Bin Jarsh deputy MD of Abu Dhabi Distribution Company said that “Peak summer demand drives a core part of the sector’s costs and it is consumer behavior at this time of year that we need to influence. Based on current use, we know that most of our customers will be ‘in the red’ for the summer months. By encouraging customers to use efficient appliances and adjust their air conditioning, we can reduce our electricity use significantly.
Mr Bin Jarsh said that over the past week Abu Dhabi residents have been exposed to the start of an advertising campaign that forms part of this information program. Various campaign information themes will be rolled out for the next 2 months to help customers understand their new bills.
(Sourced from Trade Arabia)
