许多公用事业公司使用统一的水价，这意味着无论价格如何，单价都是不变的 使用量的百分比。这样的利率虽然易于理解和管理，但意味着 每单位水的生产成本相同。在这些公用事业中， 系统扩展的驱动力是供应高峰期需求的需求，而不是年度总需求 使用在某种程度上，为高峰用水提供水比供应水更昂贵 全年用水，但客户在价格中不知道此类成本 它们接收水，水系统被不必要地扩展，总流量更高 成本。

Many utilities use uniform water rates, meaning that unit price is constant regardless of the quantity used. Such a rate, while easy to understand and administer, implies that each unit of water costs the same amount to produce. In these same utilities, system expansion is driven by needs to supply peak period demands, not total annual use. To the extent that supplying water for peaking uses is more expensive than supplying water for year-round uses, but customers are not aware of such costs in the prices they receive, water systems are expanded unnecessarily and have higher total costs.