We've got a commercial client in Cleveland getting hit with power factor penalties from FirstEnergy even though they installed capacitors last year. The PF readings on their bill show 0.94-0.96 which should be fine under Schedule GS tariff. Has anyone seen this where the utility's meters aren't picking up the correction properly? The penalties are running $800-1200 per month on a $15k electric bill.
FirstEnergy charging PF penalties on corrected loads?
Frank, I've seen this a few times with TVA accounts here in Tennessee. Sometimes the capacitor switching isn't syncing right with the demand intervals. Are they using fixed caps or automatic switching? Also check if FirstEnergy is measuring at 15-minute or 30-minute intervals - the timing can make a huge difference in those penalty calculations.
Had the exact same issue with CL&P here in Connecticut. Turned out their meter was reading reactive power during the capacitor switching transients. We had to install a controller with a 30-second delay to avoid those spikes. Saved the customer about $18,000 annually in penalties once we got it sorted.
Check the tariff language carefully - Duke Energy here in Charlotte has some tricky wording about "average power factor during billing period" versus "power factor at time of peak demand." Could be they're calculating penalties based on demand intervals when the caps weren't switched in yet.
Frank, definitely get the interval data from FirstEnergy. LG&E here shows 15-minute kVAR readings and you can spot the exact times when PF drops. I bet you'll find specific intervals dragging down their monthly average. Might need to adjust the capacitor timing or add more switching stages.
Thanks everyone. Got the interval data and you're absolutely right - there are about 6-8 intervals per month where PF drops to 0.82-0.85, probably during startup sequences. The capacitors are fixed so no automatic switching. Going to recommend they upgrade to automatic controls with load monitoring.
Frank, make sure they don't overcompensate either. Duke Energy here in Ohio will hit you with leading power factor penalties too. We had one client go from 0.85 lagging to 0.92 leading and their penalties actually went up! The sweet spot is usually 0.95-0.98 lagging for most tariffs.
One more thing - document everything with photos and test results. FirstEnergy has been pretty good about adjusting bills retroactively when you can prove their meter readings were wrong. We got a $23,000 refund for a client in Cincinnati last year after proving their capacitor bank was working correctly.