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The simple analytics of Demand Hardening
Author(s) -
Howe Charles W. Chuck,
Goemans Christopher
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2007.tb08052.x
Subject(s) - incentive , natural resource economics , hardening (computing) , analytics , business , term (time) , environmental economics , economics , microeconomics , computer science , chemistry , organic chemistry , layer (electronics) , data science , physics , quantum mechanics
The article begins by offering several definitions for the term “demand hardening” and states that demand hardening is said to occur as a result of longer‐term conservation measures (education, outdoor use restrictions, incentive and rebate programs, and price structure changes) that make it increasingly difficult for utilities to induce further reductions in water use during drought. As consumers take the least painful conservation steps, further cutbacks result in increased customer inconvenience and loss of satisfaction. For residential customers, cutbacks typically start with outdoor uses until valuable plants or trees become involved. At that point, in‐house cutbacks may be considered (Billings & Jones, 1996; Hall, 1996) as further restrictions or price increases are imposed.