District cooling charges in Dubai, explained

Who bills you for cooling

In a building on district cooling, the cooling is billed by a permit holder: either the district cooling service provider or a billing agent. Dubai's Regulation and Supervision Bureau (RSB) issues those permits (RSB Dubai, RD10). Empower, for example, bills its customers directly (Empower, Charges Explanation), and some DEWA bills carry a district cooling line at the rate provided by Nakheel (DEWA, Bill Explanation).

The two main charges

Capacity charge (Empower calls it the demand charge). It is the capacity tariff, quoted in dirhams per refrigeration ton (RT) per year, multiplied by the contracted capacity, and is normally applied monthly (RSB Dubai, RD10). For a flat or other unit, the contracted capacity is the unit's allocated share of the building's contracted capacity.

Empower's example: at AED 750 per RT a year, a 6 RT unit pays AED 4,500 a year, billed monthly in advance by the number of days in the month, so AED 387.50 for January (Empower, Charges Explanation).

Consumption charge. It is the consumption tariff, in dirhams per refrigeration-ton-hour (RTh), multiplied by the cooling energy your meter measures, and is normally calculated monthly (RSB Dubai, RD10). Empower bills it in arrears on the bill cycle, from the meter in your unit (Empower, Charges Explanation).

Why you pay even when the AC is off

The capacity charge pays for cooling capacity being available to your unit, not for what you use, so it stays the same in a quiet month. Empower says its demand charge and meter maintenance fee keep being charged even while a property is disconnected at the account holder's request (Empower, Charges Explanation). Only the consumption charge follows your use.

Which charges are allowed in Dubai

RD10, the RSB's regulation on district cooling tariffs, charges and fees (issue 1.4, published 6 February 2026), says only the charges it lists may be applied, and that the approved charges must be clearly disclosed to the customer. Any change approved later must be notified to the customer in a timely and transparent way (RSB Dubai, RD10).

The caps that apply to homes and other units (RSB Dubai, RD10):

The capacity tariff, connection charge and meter verification fee have no fixed cap in RD10; each is set in the provider's approved schedule of tariffs (Schedule 3 of its permit). Tariff arrangements with built-in increases to capacity charges will not be approved (RSB Dubai, RD10).

How your share of capacity must be worked out

For units, RD10 says capacity charges must be calculated strictly from the unit's allocated share of the building's contracted capacity. Permit holders may not charge more than that share, may not allocate capacity by the equipment installed in the unit instead of a proper allocation, and may not allocate it in a discriminatory or inconsistent way. An inefficient building penalty (low delta-T) may never appear on a unit's bill (RSB Dubai, RD10).

Empower says the number of RT for your unit is set by the developer, from the unit's area and type (Empower, FAQs).

Why cooling charges change

• DEWA's tariffs changed. RD10 says Dubai's Supreme Council of Energy resets consumption tariffs and the fuel surcharge when DEWA's electricity and water tariffs change, including DEWA's fuel surcharge (RSB Dubai, RD10). Empower says it passes on the fuel surcharge notified by DEWA (Empower, Charges Explanation).
• You used more cooling. The consumption charge follows the meter (Empower, FAQs).
• The month had more days, for a provider like Empower that bills the capacity charge by the days in the month (Empower, Charges Explanation).

If a cooling charge looks wrong

1. Read the bill against the provider's own explanation of its charges. Empower's is on its Charges Explanation page, and it has a charges calculator (Empower, Charges Explanation; Empower, Charges Calculator).
2. Contact the provider first. For Empower billing, that is +971 4 559 2888 or billing@empower.ae (Empower, FAQs). For a problem with the cooling itself, Empower asks you to contact your building's facility management.
3. Then the RSB. The RSB says you must first try to settle the issue with your service provider. Once you have exhausted all avenues with the provider, you can raise a complaint directly with the RSB; complaints filed before then will not be processed (RSB Dubai, FAQs). The RSB's phone number is 04 501 0333 (RSB Dubai, RD10).

Keep cooling bills with your other bills

Rasid is an app that keeps household bills and subscriptions in one place. Its list of UAE providers includes Empower, Emicool, Tabreed, Tasleem, Nakheel District Cooling, Emaar District Cooling, South Energy, Sobha Energy Solutions, ista, ZENNER and Logic Utilities. You can add any of them by hand. With read-only Gmail access, Rasid also looks for cooling bills emailed by Empower, Emicool and Tasleem. For a bill with a due date, Rasid reminds you three days before, at 10:00, and once it has more than one bill it shows how this one compares with the last.

Rasid does not pay bills and cannot change what you are charged. You pay your cooling provider directly.