Low income Emirati families in Dubai will see their free water quotas doubled from 10,000 gallons per month to 20,000 gallons as part of a new directive issued by the Ruler of Dubai.

All Emirati nationals living in the emirate will be exempt from electricity connection charges up to AED25,000, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the UAE, said in a statement published on state news agency, WAM.

Each gallon of water over the set limit will be charged at AED0.015 (1.5 fils).

“Water and electricity are national assets which have to be protected from wasting and therefore preserved for future generations,” Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement.

“The UAE leadership puts all the available material assets at the service of nationals to provide them with a prosperous life and services at every house without having to bear additional burdens,” he added.

There are currently 7,016 Emiratis who receive social welfare assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs, said WAM.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the monopoly state utility, in August said income in the first half of the year rose nine percent on increased sales.

Income in the six months to June 31 rose to AED1.63bn from AED1.5bn in the year-earlier period, the state utility said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai.

Revenue gained 42 percent to AED6.6bn, the company said, but finance costs jumped to AED1.6bn on foreign currency losses and bank borrowings.

DEWA, considered one of Dubai's strongest assets, has sole responsibility for transmission and distribution of power and water supply in the emirate. The UAE is one of the highest per capita consumers of water and electricity in the world.

Rising demand for power in Dubai, where soaring summer temperatures drive up air conditioning use, has forced the emirate to buy more natural gas to feed its power stations.

Dubai's Supreme Council of Energy said this month it planned to launch a gas strategy in 2012 aimed at cutting energy demand in Dubai. The emirate’s top energy council also said it would freeze electricity and water tariffs in the emirate over the coming years.