Do you think Dewa’s services will improve if it partners with private firms?

Do you think Dewa’s services will improve if it partners with private firms?

The results are in.

January 24, 2010 12:19 by Aarti Nagraj

For around 30 percent of our respondents, it makes no difference. They say that they are quite happy with Dewa’s services, and that no improvements are required.

Another 28 percent are also not bothered about the privatization, however for completely the opposite reason. Nothing will improve Dewa’s services, they say.

Dewa has faced some negative press coverage in recent months.

In November last year, residents in Dubai created an uproar after many of them claimed that their Dewa bills for September had increased drastically. According to a Kipp poll at the time, 65 percent of the respondents saw their bills double in September, while another 25 percent said that their bill went up marginally. Angry residents also created a group on social networking site Facebook called “My DEWA bill increased in September 09 by a crazy amount for no reason!”

But Dewa responded saying that there was no increase in tariff charges for electricity and water, and that the confusion was probably caused because of a change in the billing system. The new format calculates the tariffs between specific dates and not by the entire month, the authority said.

“There is a normal fluctuation in bill amount depending on the actual consumption from one month to another, and it is possible that due to the change in the look of the bill, customers could have misunderstood that tariff is changed which is not correct,” it said.

While privatization of certain Dewa services may lead to better communication, the impact of it will probably be limited initially; the Hassyan plant will only represent 15 percent of Dubai’s total power generation.

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Tags: bills, DEWA, Dubai, ownership, private, water and power plant