Metering utility services: Evaluation and maintenance

The value of metering customer connections to public utilities is often taken for granted. The paper proposes methods for evaluating customer metering in terms of maximizing economic efficiency, utility profits, and economic equity. Significant improvements are made in methods for assessing the conservation benefits of metering. Methods are illustrated using domestic water supply examples, but are applicable to any utility service. When metering is inefficient, so is marginal cost pricing. The paper also applies Bayesian decision analysis and regeneration theory to the maintenance of water meters. This maintenance scheduling method is relevant for other component maintenance problems in water resource systems.