Power Factor Correction

Our projects can correct the Power Factor (PF) at commercial and industrial facilities, which allows businesses to avoid costly PF charges on the monthly electric bill.

The PF expresses how effectively a facility uses electric power. It is the ratio of the actual power (KW) used by the customer divided by the total power (KVA) flowing to the customer’s facility. Many utilities add an additional charge to the monthly electric bill for industrial and commercial clients if the PF is lower than the threshold called out in the utility’s electric tariff. The PF adjustment is typically applied to the kilowatt demand segment of the utility bill, and may increase that portion of the monthly electric bill significantly.

PF charges can result in a 5-15% or greater increase to the demand part of the electric bill. We can eliminate these charges with equipment designed by our expert staff. A PF correction project can provide several advantages, including:

• Eliminate costly added charges
• Increase electric power equipment capacity, such as transformers or load center panels
• Improve voltage to electric loads and smooth out power quality variations
• Reduce heat losses in the customer’s power distribution system

We can analyze your monthly electric bills and survey the facility to design the proper equipment, and eliminate monthly PF charges. We provide a written proposal that identifies the projected monthly PF charges to be eliminated, the project total cost, and economic indicators.

We can also implement the PF correction project, structured to meet your needs. This process can be for equipment and engineering only, or can include installation and commissioning (turnkey) services with a single-source responsibility. 

Depending on factors such as the voltage level, strength of harmonic currents, and the type of facility equipment, either a service entrance capacitor bank or distributed motor capacitors would be the better approach. Either method will provide relief from PF penalties.

Monitoring, Analysis, and Reports
We bring many years of experience to our study of your facility’s Power Factor. We can fully measure and profile the Power Factor, determine PF charges on monthly electric bills, and provide descriptive analysis and reports.

Service Entrance Capacitors
In many cases, a single main capacitor bank can be installed at the electrical service entrance of the facility. This is a low maintenance, simple solution to power factor correction.

Motor Capacitors
Some facilities are equipped with multiple, large induction motors that operate for extended periods. Equipping each large motor with an individual capacitor is often the best solution in this case.