Have you checked your facility’s utility bill lately? You may need Power Factor Correction.
If you haven’t checked your facility’s utility bill lately, you might be surprised to find out how much you’re spending on inefficient power usage. Not only are you paying extra for your electricity usage, but you could also be subject to penalties for poor power factor.
The penalties for inefficient power usage vary by region and utility provider. For example, our customer was fined 2% of their bill when they fell below 70% power factor over two consecutive billing periods. If the problem persisted for two more billing periods, the fine doubled and continued to double until the problem was resolved (up to a maximum fine of 28%).
What is Power Factor?
Power factor is the ratio of working power to apparent power. Rather, it measures how efficiently the electrical power is being used. Low power factor means poor utilization.
What happens in Power Factor Correction?
To improve your power factor, Serve Electric would conduct a Power Quality Study to assess your power distribution system. This would allow us to properly size and install power factor correction systems to bring your facility to an acceptable and efficient level. The study would also identify other problematic electrical influences to consider.
If you have poor power factor, your utility company must supply excess reactive current along with the working current. Power capacitors act as reactive current generators, replacing the need for your utility company’s extra work (and the fines that come with it). Ideally, you should aim for a power factor of 95% to maximize benefits.
Power Factor Correction ROI
So, how long will it take to see a return on investment from power factor correction? The answer varies by facility, but on average, our customers have seen an ROI in 14 months.
