DEWA tariffs, cooling loads and what air conditioning costs a UAE home in 2026

DEWA charges residential electricity on four slabs from 23 to 38 fils per kWh

DEWA, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, charges residential electricity in 2026 on four monthly consumption slabs, 23 fils per kWh up to 2,000 kWh, 28 fils from 2,001 to 4,000 kWh, 32 fils from 4,001 to 6,000 kWh and 38 fils above 6,000 kWh, rates that have not changed since January 2022, according to the DEWA bill explainer published by EGSH in April 2026. Oliva's guide to DEWA bills, updated 23 March 2026, gives the same four rates as AED 0.23, 0.28, 0.32 and 0.38 per kWh, and the two sources agree on every figure below; DEWA prints the tariff on every bill, and the reader should take the fuel surcharge from the bill, because DEWA adjusts that line.

Monthly consumption (EGSH, April 2026)	Electricity rate	Monthly water (since March 2025)	Water rate
0 to 2,000 kWh (green slab)	23 fils per kWh	0 to 27 cubic metres	AED 7.699 per cubic metre
2,001 to 4,000 kWh (blue slab)	28 fils per kWh	27 to 54 cubic metres	AED 8.799 per cubic metre
4,001 to 6,000 kWh (orange slab)	32 fils per kWh	above 54 cubic metres	AED 10.118 per cubic metre
above 6,000 kWh (red slab)	38 fils per kWh	one cubic metre is about 220 imperial gallons

The slabs apply in sequence, so a household that uses 3,000 kWh in a month pays 23 fils on the first 2,000 kWh and 28 fils on the remaining 1,000. EGSH lists the other lines on the same bill: a fuel surcharge of AED 0.065 per kWh of electricity and AED 1.10 per cubic metre of water, a sewerage fee of 2 fils per imperial gallon in 2026 rising to 2.8 fils in 2027, an electricity meter charge of about AED 20 and a water meter charge of about AED 8 per month, and 5 percent VAT on the charges but not on the housing fee. Commercial customers pay a flat 38 fils per kWh and industrial customers a flat 23 fils.

A Dubai DEWA bill runs from AED 300 for a studio to AED 4,500 for a villa in summer

A DEWA bill in Dubai in 2026 runs from AED 300 to 450 a month for a 400 square foot studio in summer to AED 2,500 to 4,500 a month for a 4,000 square foot five-bedroom villa, with winter bills at roughly half those figures, according to the Oliva guide to DEWA bills, which states that electricity consumption rises 40 to 70 percent from June to September. The guide adds the housing fee that tenants pay through the same bill, 5 percent of the annual rent divided into twelve monthly instalments, and a 5 percent late payment surcharge.

Home (Oliva, 2026)	Summer bill (AED per month)	Winter bill (AED per month)
Studio, 400 sq ft	300 to 450	150 to 250
1-bedroom apartment, 700 sq ft	500 to 750	250 to 400
2-bedroom apartment, 1,200 sq ft	700 to 1,100	350 to 550
3-bedroom apartment, 1,800 sq ft	900 to 1,400	450 to 700
3-bedroom villa, 2,500 sq ft	1,500 to 2,500	700 to 1,200
5-bedroom villa, 4,000 sq ft	2,500 to 4,500	1,200 to 2,000

The summer to winter ratio in that table is the cooling load made visible. A villa at 4,000 kWh in July, which lands at the top of the blue slab, pays AED 460 for the first 2,000 kWh and AED 560 for the second 2,000 kWh before surcharges, and the next 1,000 kWh of a hotter August cost AED 320 at the orange rate. The rising slabs are the reason a fit-out that reduces cooling load pays back faster in a large villa than in a studio: the saved kilowatt hours come off the most expensive slab first.

Air conditioning is about 60 percent of peak load and 65 to 70 percent of home electricity

Air conditioning represents about 60 percent of the load on DEWA's network during peak-time consumption, which runs from 12 pm to 6 pm, according to Amal Koshak, Senior Manager of Marketing Communications at DEWA, quoted by Gulf News on 15 September 2018, and DEWA's campaign asked customers to raise thermostats from 20 degrees Celsius to 23 or 24 degrees during those hours. The share inside the home is higher than the share on the network: The National reported on 23 May 2024 that air conditioning typically accounts for between 65 and 70 percent of the electricity used in homes across the Gulf, citing Professor Moncef Krarti, and that a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature results in about 10 percent greater AC energy consumption, in an article on how the Gulf can cool its reliance on air conditioning.

The same National article puts buildings at nearly 90 percent of the electricity used in the UAE and gives a retrofit potential of 7.55 TWh a year for the country. The 10 percent per degree figure is the one to keep for a fit-out decision: a thermostat moved from 22 to 24 degrees, which DEWA has asked for since 2018, takes about a fifth off the cooling share of the bill at the same outdoor conditions, and a window that admits less solar gain does the same work without a change in set point, as the article on glazing and materials for desert summers sets out.

Empower district cooling charges AED 0.568 per RT-hour plus AED 750 per RT per year

Empower, the district cooling provider, bills district cooling in two parts: a consumption charge of AED 0.568 per refrigeration ton (RT) per hour recorded by the unit's meter and billed in arrears, and a demand charge of AED 750 per RT per year billed monthly in advance according to the days in the month, according to the Empower charges explanation page. Empower's own worked example is a 6 RT unit: AED 4,500 of demand charges a year, and AED 387.50 for January (4,500 divided by 365 and multiplied by 31), payable whether or not the cooling runs.

The Empower page lists the smaller charges on the same account: meter maintenance at AED 50 for three months or AED 30 per month, a disconnection fee of AED 500, a meter testing fee of AED 160 if the meter proves accurate, a voluntary disconnection fee of AED 150 per instance, and 5 percent VAT on every charge. The page also records that DEWA has been authorised since 1 January 2011 to raise its tariff by 15 percent in each existing slab, and that district cooling companies pass DEWA tariff increases and the actual fuel surcharge on to their customers.

A tenant comparing a chiller-free apartment with a district cooled one should read the two Empower lines separately:

• The demand charge is fixed by the RT capacity allocated to the unit, so a 6 RT apartment carries AED 4,500 a year plus VAT before use.
• The consumption charge follows the meter, so the interior decisions that cut cooling load (glazing, shading, set point, fan coil maintenance) reduce this line only.
• The security deposit, connection charge and administration fee are one-off items on top of both lines.
• In a chiller-free lease the landlord pays the cooling; in a district cooled lease the tenant pays both Empower lines.

A UAE villa needs 20 to 30 BTU per square foot, about one tonne per 400 to 600 square feet

A UAE villa needs 20 to 30 BTU of cooling per square foot, with one tonne of cooling equal to 12,000 BTU, so a 3,000 square foot villa needs 15 to 20 tonnes or more, according to the Daikin Middle East guide to choosing an air conditioner for a UAE villa. Daikin states that outdoor temperatures in the UAE regularly climb above 45 degrees Celsius, that most conventional units are rated to operate up to 43 to 46 degrees ambient, that a buyer should look for a SEER of 14 or above and for the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology star label from one to five stars, and that a unit should be serviced at least twice a year.

The rule of thumb converts into a load per room: a 300 to 500 square foot room needs 8,000 to 12,000 BTU, which is the size of a single split unit. A cooling load calculation for a Dubai permit uses the design conditions that the earlier Al Sa'fat text printed, an outdoor dry bulb temperature of 46 degrees Celsius and an indoor set point of 24 degrees at 50 percent relative humidity, and the current edition refers that calculation to the Dubai Building Code, as the article on Al Sa'fat and Estidama requirements explains. Al Sa'fat's 2023 edition also requires a 4-star household air conditioner for Golden Sa'fa and a 5-star unit for Platinum.

The capital cost of the equipment sits in the fit-out budget rather than the DEWA bill. Turner and Townsend's 2025 unit rate for air conditioning in Dubai is AED 450 per square metre, quoted in the article on Dubai fit-out cost per square foot, and AGBI reported in July 2026 that mechanical works tied to air conditioning run more than 40 percent above 2021 levels, which makes the sizing decision a budget decision as much as a comfort one. A villa specified at 30 BTU per square foot carries 50 percent more plant than one specified at 20, and the difference between the two figures is mostly glass, orientation and insulation.