ADDC Taqa Distribution is the same company under a new name: if you are setting up electricity and water in Abu Dhabi, the entity you are looking for is no longer called ADDC. Since January 2025, Abu Dhabi Distribution Company and Al Ain Distribution Company have operated under a single rebranded identity, Taqa Distribution, confirmed directly on TAMM. If you search for “ADDC new connection” and land on outdated guides, that is why the process looks different from what you are reading.
What changed, and when
According to Taqa’s own announcement, reported by Gulf News on 16 September 2024, the Abu Dhabi utility giant folded both ADDC and Al Ain Distribution Company (AADC) into one unified customer-facing brand called Taqa Distribution. Customers started seeing the new name on their electricity and water bills from January 2025. Two of Taqa’s other operating companies were rebranded at the same time: Transaco became Taqa Transmission, and Abu Dhabi Energy Services became Taqa Energy Services.
This is not a change in ownership or a new company altogether, it is the same utility provider under a new, unified name across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
Do you need to apply for a new connection separately?
Checking TAMM, Abu Dhabi’s own government services platform, directly: Taqa Distribution lists exactly six services under its entity page, and none of them is a standalone “new connection” application. The six are: changing property ownership information, balance refund or transfer, water and electricity bill payment, critical medical conditions registration, social affairs exemptions, and issuing a “to whom it may concern” certificate.
That is not an oversight. Setting up your utility connection in Abu Dhabi is tied directly to registering your tenancy contract through Tawtheeq. Once your tenancy is registered and attested, Taqa Distribution is notified automatically and sets up the account in your name, without a separate application on your part.
What does this mean in practice?
If you have just signed a lease in Abu Dhabi, your priority is completing Tawtheeq registration correctly and promptly, not hunting for a utility sign-up form. Once that registration goes through, the connection follows. This is a genuinely different model from some other markets, where the tenant has to separately contact the utility provider and open an account themselves. If you are also setting up a vehicle in the same move, the Abu Dhabi vehicle registration guide follows the same TAMM-first pattern, though that one does require its own separate application.
A refundable security deposit is commonly reported at AED 1,000, added to your first bill, though this is not a figure Taqa Distribution states directly on the TAMM service pages checked for this guide, so treat it as indicative rather than official until you see it on your own account.
How do you pay your bill once the connection is active?
Once your account exists, TAMM’s own “Water and Electricity Bill Payment” service, run by Taqa Distribution, lets you pay through available channels or the call centre. According to TAMM, this service requires no documents and carries no additional cost beyond your actual bill. You log in, enter your account number, and pay the amount due, a process TAMM lists as taking about 6 minutes.
What if your tenancy registration is the part you have not done yet?
Since utility setup in Abu Dhabi runs through your tenancy contract, that registration is the step that actually controls your electricity and water timeline, not a separate utility form. If you are still working through renting and registering a home, the living and working in Abu Dhabi guide covers what that process involves. Utilities are one line in a much bigger monthly budget: the Abu Dhabi cost of living guide breaks down where electricity and water typically sit against rent and other fixed costs.
What about Al Ain residents?
The same rebrand applies across the emirate. Al Ain Distribution Company (AADC) is part of the same Taqa Distribution structure now, so Al Ain residents are working with the identical entity, billing system and TAMM services as Abu Dhabi city residents, not a separate regional provider. If you moved between the two areas expecting a different utility company, there is only one to deal with today.
What is the short version?
ADDC no longer exists as a separate customer-facing brand: it merged with Al Ain Distribution Company into Taqa Distribution from January 2025, confirmed by Taqa’s own statement and reflected on TAMM today. There is no standalone “new connection” service to apply for, because your electricity and water account is set up automatically once your tenancy contract is registered through Tawtheeq. Once active, you pay your bill through TAMM’s Water and Electricity Bill Payment service, which needs no documents and carries no extra cost beyond the bill itself.
