Campground Power Factor Penalties

Campground Owners: Does your campground pay a Low Power Factor Penalty on your electric bill?

This is just for Campground Owners

(but everyone please read it…)

I’m doing a study on campground electric power bills and want to know if any campground is paying a penalty from the power company for Low Power Factor.

What is Power Factor?

Power factor (PF) is a measurement of how efficiently an electrical system uses power, representing the ratio of Real Power (kW) doing useful work to Apparent Power (kVA) supplied, with the ideal being 1.0 (or 100%) where all power is used effectively, minimizing wasted energy (Reactive Power) that creates inefficiency, higher costs, and increased losses.

What is Power Factor Correction (PCF)?

If your industrial facility has a low power factor (below 0.90) then the power company may add a penalty to your electric bill. This is because the power company has to provide larger transformers and wiring to your facility, and that doesn’t show up on the KWh charges of your electric bill. Typically low Power Factor is corrected with large banks of capacitors to shift the power factor closer to unity. For an article on how Power Factor Correction works, read HERE.

Does your campground pay a Power Factor Penalty?

I want to know if your campground receives a penalty for low Power Factor from the power company. I think this is only assessed for industrial and commercial customers, but maybe I’m missing something. So, if your campground pays a Power Factor penalty, please contact me at jmichaelsokol (at) icloud (dot) com with details.

Thanks for your help - and let’s play safe out there… Mike