Helping customers connect tiered rates with actual water use

摘要

Suppose your water utility has an opportunity to sell water to a small village deep within the Sahara Desert. Your utility holds a global patent on technology that magically transports water through a vaporization process (think of the Star Trek movie in which Captain Kirk transports water to save the whales). No additional costs or water quality issues are involved with transporting the water, and you have ample water to meet the village's demand. Would you charge the village a premium for the water? Might you, in industry terms, implement a tiered rate structure?