The Powersave posts remind me of something that happened at my previous employer about a decade ago. This guy contacted us wanting us to evaluate a product he had invested in. He wanted some kind of letter of recommendation from us. He brought his product over (I won't post the name - although they are still on the market) for us to evaluate. It was a typical metal box that saved energy and made motors run cooler. He first demonstrated it using the "tools" he had been provided by the company. We, of course, pulled out real test equipment. It took about 5 minutes to figure out that what he had was a metal box full of capacitors. The real funny thing was that when he plugged it in one outlet, the votlage distorted horribly. The cap was acting as a third harmonic filter and was drawing huge third harmonic currents.
In a panic he called the company to have them explain the harmonics (we knew the problem). Once they told him there was nothing in the box but caps you could see the guy's whole world dissolving. After the call, he nearly cried. He had invested his entire life savings in an "exclusive residential marketing rights" in a certain area of the US. The problem, no real market for kvar correction on residential customers since the meter only measures kWh plus the fact that installing a cap at the meter does little or nothing to reduce the losses in the residence.
We felt sorry for the guy.
Charles Perry P.E.