We installed $45K worth of capacitor banks last fall to fix our power factor issues at our Cleveland manufacturing facility. FirstEnergy keeps billing us Schedule E-25 penalties even though our PF is showing 0.94-0.96 on our monitoring equipment. The penalties are running $3,200/month which is outrageous. Anyone else dealing with FirstEnergy measurement discrepancies? Their meter tech claims our capacitors are 'hunting' but I'm not seeing it on our side.
FirstEnergy keeps hitting us with PF penalties despite new capacitors
Frank, I've seen this before with Ameren here in Missouri. The utility meters sometimes can't handle rapid capacitor switching. Are your caps on automatic controls or manual? If they're switching too frequently it can actually make the PF penalty worse during transition periods. We had to install a power factor controller with longer time delays to fix this issue.
Pam's right about the switching issue. CPS Energy down here in San Antonio had similar meter problems. You need to check if FirstEnergy is using interval metering for power factor. Some utilities average the PF over 15-minute intervals, others use instantaneous readings. If they're catching you during capacitor switching events, you'll get penalized even if your overall PF is good.
Same thing happened to us with Ohio Edison before the FirstEnergy merger. Turned out their revenue meter had a bad power factor measurement circuit. Cost us $8,000 in penalties before we proved it was their equipment. Demand a meter test under Ohio PUC rules - they have to provide detailed calibration records if you request them formally.
Frank, are you logging the exact times of your capacitor switching? In Tennessee with TVA we had to provide detailed switching logs to dispute penalties. The utility claimed our caps were creating harmonics during switching that affected their PF measurements. We ended up installing harmonic filters along with better switching controls.
This is why I always recommend independent power quality monitoring when dealing with PF penalties. PSO here in Oklahoma tried the same thing on us. Our Fluke 1760 showed perfect power factor while their meter claimed we were at 0.85. The smoking gun was when we caught their meter reading negative power factor during light load periods - physically impossible. Got $12,000 in penalties refunded.
Thanks everyone. Ed, that's exactly what I'm seeing - negative PF readings during overnight hours when we're barely drawing any load. I'm going to file a formal complaint with the PUCO and demand a meter test. Jim, do you remember which specific Ohio PUC rule covers meter testing requirements?
Frank, also check if FirstEnergy is applying the penalty correctly. Alabama Power tried to charge us penalties on both leading AND lagging power factor in the same billing period. The tariff clearly states it's supposed to be one or the other, not both. Saved us $4,500/month once we caught that error. These utility billing departments make mistakes all the time.