Power Factor?? How does a capacitor help?

Well, things might be "a changing!"

Some of these new electronic power meters are just "loafing" when all they report is total kWh! At essentially the same manufacturing cost, they could easily report anything that can be billed from peak demand over various intervals, to peak amps or harmonic amps!

If the next effect of "mom and pop" drawing too much harmonics causes money to be spent then the regulating authorities will authorize billing "mom and pop" for their effect on the system.

Reply to
John Gilmer
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Not quite. While an unloaded transformer downstream of the substatino will affect the substation's overall pf, since it's upstream of the residence/commercial meter, it has no affect on the pf at the meter. So a poorly designed feeder line with an oversized transformer will *not* affect the customer's billing.

daestrom

Reply to
daestrom

If the distribution factor in their charges (let the end-user carry the burden) related to power factor which they themselves are probably charged from the generation people, then it still probably comes down to the end-user paying for it. This is my opinion of course. Not a stated fact.

LT

Reply to
Loi Tran

I would suggest you double check that,meters don't correct your pf,they just report VA, the power company then applies a credit to correct your bill. At least thats how its done in NW Ind.

Reply to
Denny

Unless every electric power supplier I've dealt with and every service meter I've seen is lying, then I'm paying for KWH not KVAH. My last electric bill is in my hand and it states that they are charging me for kilo WATT-hours. That's true power in my book. ARM

Reply to
Alan McClure

I believe residential rates are in KWH. However, commercial and industrial rates are in KWH plus a demand charge, power factor charge, and/or other energy charges. I doubt you will ever see residential as anything but KWH unless something is created which moves residential power factor away from unity.

Reply to
Zman

Although Indiana may get an award for most 'ingenious' use of time zones, they bill by the kWhr, not VA. Even the old electro-mechanical meter was called a 'watt-hour meter' for good reason. They register just the watt-hours very reliably.

The utility *does* use an 'average pf' in part for determining sizing of equipment and special installations with unusual pf can be charged for kVA as well as kW-hr. But this is not for residential service.

daestrom

Reply to
daestrom

Nothing is free. (TANSTAAFL)

Industry pays the utility to correct the PF, unless they do the correction themselves. Static installations are nice, but dynamic ones are better (and more expensive)

The homeowner probably pays for PF too, it's just not broken out in his monthly bill, but it's gotta be there in the bottom line.

The reason that homeowners don't have a line item for PF is that the cost of metering PF at that small of a user level is too expensive.

I remember a hotel fire here (Houston) because the owner paid some investment company to install a cap bank. He got a guaranteed reduction in his power bill, and they got what was left over (probably he got 20%, and they kept the 80%). The problem was that they over-corrected (estimate was a leading 0.6) and the fire started in a motor starter in the mechanical room.

jtiggr

Reply to
Jtiggr

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