Water Price Escalation Rates

The Escalation Rate for the water usage/disposal cost is the average annual rate of price increase over a period of consecutive years (Duration). There are no default escalation rates for water prices (as there are in the case of energy prices). If applicable, water price escalation rates are entered separately for Water Usage and Water Disposal. The first rate entered begins with the Base Date (since all prices are entered as of the Base Date), even though water usage and disposal calculations do not begin until the Service Date. If the Duration for the set of escalation rates does not sum to the years in the Study Period, the program uses the last rate entered for the years remaining. Rates in years beyond the end of the Study Period will not be used in the LCC calculations. If the analysis is being performed in constant dollars, enter these rates as real rates (excluding inflation). If the analysis is being performed in current dollars, enter these rates as nominal rates (including inflation). For current-dollar analysis, the data input screen shows the DOE-projected rate of inflation as the Water Cost Escalation rate. This rate can be edited if the cost of water usage/disposal escalates at a rate different from general inflation.