Meaningful, scientific measures of water rate
equity are elusive. Without a sound metric for equity,
discussions of fairness in water rates are prone to
political manipulation, or worse yet, neglect. This
study crafts empirically grounded, theoretically consistent
metrics of water rate equity at the individual
customer level, based on AWWA's cost-of-service
principles. Individual equity measures are aggregated
to a utility-level rate equity index for analysis of
entire rate structures. A third metric captures rate
progressivity, or the degree to which rate structures
favor high- or low-cost-of-service customers. Equity
metrics are calculated using financial and billing data
from a small municipal water utility. Finally, this
article analyzes several alternative rate structures for
the example utility and draws inferences about their
respective degrees of equitability. The equity metrics
developed here provide new tools for managers and
policymakers in assessing the equity of alternative rate
structures. Includes 19 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 97 - No. 4 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 250 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 04/01/2005 |
