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A
significant reduction in utility bills is accomplished by correcting the
Power Factor.
Power Factor is the merit of usage expressed in a ratio;
0.5 to 0.99 are typical values. It defines how well the
customer utilizes the power. The power factor defines the
work accomplished in kWh to the quantity of apparent power (kVA)
the utility must supply. If the power factor is poor, below
0.85, some utilities might apply a penalty to the utility
bill. The penalty will vary from utility to utility and
contractual agreements, but most penalties will be applied
over the entire month and in some cases the entire year of
billing.
As an example:,
A customer requires 1000kVA to maintain his
operations. However, due to poor power factor, the
kWatt usages is only 750kWatts. The generating
facility must produce an extra un-billable
250kWatts, just to satisfy the 1000kVA requirement.
To make up for the poor power factor, a penalty is
applied.
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Looking at the monthly bill:
Assume a usage of
750kWatts 8 hours per day and 6 days a week at a
rate of $5.00 / kWh.
750
* 8h * 6d * $5 = $180,000 / month < fast summary >
With a 20% penalty (applied to the entire bill) =
$216,000 / month
Over the year that’s $432,000 in penalties!
The
good news is that the penalty can be avoided by
correcting the power factor with power factor
correction capacitors; a specialty of Shallbetter
Inc. A power factor correction bank would pay for
itself in 6 months.
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Download Data Sheet pdf
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On
the surface this appears to intuitively simple
logic, however there are design considerations that
must be taking into account. To get it right, site
surveys, actual usage profiles, and power monitoring
prior to recommendation of the final system is a
necessity. Again, Shallbetter Inc. provides
these services.
In
fact,
Shallbetter Inc. provides full turnkey systems from evaluation to
installation and commissioning.
Take advantage, save some energy, get green, improve
power quality and with stimulus incentives, it’s
possible to obtain dollars in exchange for
efficiency improvements.
Call or email to find out more about the specifics,
there are no penalties with Shallbatter.
(920)
232- 8888 |
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Shallbetter Inc. Oshkosh, WI |
Manufacturer of MV
Switchgear
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A Quick Look at Demand Charges
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Customers
can enjoy a reduction in their power bills, if they take the
right steps.
One of the ways is to evaluate the
Demand Charge and
where possible lower the peak usage by spreading out the
consumption over longer periods of time.
For example:
A customer using 100 kW over an hour uses the
same amount of energy as a customer using 10 kW over 10
hours. Both ultimately used 100 kWH, but the first customer
demanded his 100 kWh at a rate of 100 kW per hour. The
second customer acquired his 100 kWh at a rate of 10 kW per
hour over a longer period of time.
Both examples use the exact same amount of energy and perform the
same amount of work. However, the resulting bill will be
very different. Applying an example power rate demand charge
of $9.00 per kW and an energy charge of 5 cents per kWh to
both examples produces startling results. |
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How a Demand Charge is Applied
Demand charge is based on each customer’s maximum KW demand.
Customer
(Present Usage)
Running a 1000 kW load for one hour would result in usage of
100 kilowatt hours (kWh) and accrue a demand charge of 100
kW.
100 kW x 1 hour = 100 kWh.
Demand = 100 kW.
Customer
(Adjusted Usage)
Running a 10 kW load for 10 hours would also result in usage
of 100 kWh but would only accrue a demand charge of 10 kW.
10 kW x 10 hours = 100 kWh.
Demand = 10 kW
Customer (Previous approach)
100 kW x $9.00 = $900.00
100 kWh x .05 = $5.00
Total = $905.00
Customer (Present Approach)
10 kW x $9.0 = $90.00
100 kWh x .05 = $5.00
Total = $95.00 |
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