By ; Ahmed Soliman
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that there are now more than 350,000 residential customers enrolled in ‘My Sustainable Living’ programme since its launch in October 2018. The programme encourages customers to use electricity and water responsibly and reduce their carbon footprint.
‘My Sustainable Living Programme’, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East, enables residential customers to compare their monthly electricity and water usage with the average usage of similar efficient homes and make informed decisions based on current data, with other highly efficient homes. This inspires a healthy competition among customers to reduce their consumption and carbon footprint.
“We are pleased by the customer engagement response to our initiatives and programmes, to consolidate the sustainable development of Dubai. Our programmes also encourage customers to effectively support and implement Dubai's strategies to protect our natural resources,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
“At DEWA, we work to achieve the vision of our wise leadership for the transformation towards a green economy. This supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai a global centre for clean energy and green economy and the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world; and the Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy to reduce energy and water use by 30% by 2030,” continued Al Tayer.
“In accordance with our vision to become a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation, DEWA adopts integrated strategies to encourage society members to follow a responsible lifestyle when using electricity and water as part of their culture so it becomes a daily habit,” concluded Al Tayer.
‘My Sustainable Living’ programme has four main features. These include a comparison dashboard of similar homes in the region, and other similar efficient homes, a graph of estimated consumption trends, a monthly consumption report, and conservation tips. DEWA interacts with its users through its website, smart app, email and text messages.
DEWA’s conservation programmes and initiatives over the past 10 years have achieved significant savings in electricity and water use within various stakeholder groups. Cumulative savings between 2009 and 2018 reached 2 terrawatthours (TWh) of electricity and 7.4 billion gallons of water, equivalent to AED 1.2 billion. These savings were achieved in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, educational institutions, governmental and semi-governmental organisations. The savings contributed to reducing about one million tonnes of carbon emissions.
