Fixed rates creep up, with stormwater fastest

摘要

Although many tariff structures include volumetric charges, globally, our data shows that the need for stable revenue and funding for infrastructure have won out over water conservation in the last decade. Fixed rates, with a CAGR of 2.2% since 2011, have increased twice as much as variable rates, at 1.1%, although they remain a fraction of the total (see figure, P59). The downside of variable tariffs is their unreliability: asset-heavy water utilities have high fixed costs, meaning a guaranteed fixed revenue goes a long way on the road to cost recovery. Although utili- ties risk pushback from consumers if tariffs continue to rise despite conservation efforts, as was seen in San Jose, California in 2019, utilities still depend on fixed revenue. The need for wastewater infrastructure has driven the growth in fixed rates, particularly in Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. As wastewater tariffs are less frequently tied to metering and consumption, they allow for a fixed structure, and wastewater treatment can be more cost-intensive than drinking water treatment.