Utility Side of The Meter

1) IEEE 519 sets an upper current distortion limit of 5 percent to prevent overheating of
transformers. The maximum overvoltage for transformers is 5 percent at rated load

and 10 percent at no load.
2) Electronic equipment cannot tolerate more than a 5 percent harmonic voltage
distortion factor, with the single harmonic being no more than 3 percent of the
fundamental voltage.
3) IEEE 519 sets limits on total harmonic distortion (THD) for the utility side of the
meter and total demand distortion (TDD) for the end-user side of the meter. This
means the utility is responsible for the voltage distortion at the point of common
coupling (PCC) between the utility and the end user.
Utility side of the meter:
Sources of power quality problems on the utility side of the meter involve some type of
activity on the utilitys electrical power system. They can be either man-made or natural
events. They all involve some type of interruption of the current or voltage. The most
common manmade causes are switching operations.
Utilities switch equipment on and off by the use of breakers, disconnect switches, or
reclosers. Usually some type of fault on the power system causes a breaker to trip. Utilities
trip breakers to perform routine maintenance. They also trip breakers to insert capacitors to
improve the power factor. Lightning striking a power line or substation equipment, a tree
touching a power line, a car hitting a power pole, or even an animal touching an energized
line may cause the fault. The tripping of the breaker and the initiating fault can cause the
voltage to sag or swell, depending on when in the periodic wave the tripping occurs. Utilities
set breakers and reclosers to reclose on the fault to determine if the fault has cleared. If the
fault has not cleared, the breaker or recloser trips again and stays open.
Another type of utility activity that can cause oscillatory transients is the switching of
power factor improvement capacitors. When utilities insert capacitors in the power system,
they momentarily cause an increase in the voltage and cause transients. Capacitors, if tuned to
harmonics on the power system, can also amplify the harmonics.
Utility system faults occur on power lines or in power equipment. They are usually
categorized by single-phase faults to ground, phase to-phase faults, or three-phase faults to
ground. On the utility side of the meter, the type of fault often determines the type of
disturbance. On the end-user side of the meter, the type of load or wiring and grounding
conditions determine the type of power quality disturbance.
End-user side of the meter:
Sources of power quality problems on the end-user side of the meter usually involve a
disruption of the sinusoidal voltage and current delivered to the end user by the utility. These
disruptions can damage or cause misoperation of sensitive electronic equipment in not only
the end-users facilities but also in another end-users facilities that is electrically connected.
The following is a list of power quality problems caused by end users: nonlinear inrush
current from the start-up of large motors, static electricity, power factor improvement
capacitors amplifying harmonics, and poor wiring and grounding techniques.
1)Nonlinear loads. There are today many types of nonlinear loads. They include all types of
electronic equipment that use switched-mode power supplies, adjustable-speed drives,
rectifiers converting ac to dc, inverters converting dc to ac, arc welders and arc furnaces,
electronic and magnetic ballast in fluorescent lighting, and medical equipment like MRI
(magnetic radiation imaging) and x-ray machines. All these devices change a smooth
sinusoidal wave into irregular distorted wave shapes. The distorted wave shapes produce
harmonics.
2)Power factor.Power factor is a way to measure the amount of reactive power required to
supply an electrical system and an end-users facility. Reactive power represents wasted
electrical energy, because it does no useful work. Inductive loads require reactive power and
constitute a major portion of the power consumed in industrial plants. Motors, transformers,
fluorescent lights, arc welders, and induction heating furnaces all use reactive power.
Power factor is also a way of measuring the phase difference between voltage and
current. Nonlinear loads often shift the phase angle between the load current and voltage,
require reactive power to serve them, and cause low power factor. Linear motor loads require
reactive power to turn the rotating magnetic field in the motor and cause low power factor.
Nonlinear and linear loads that cause low power factor include induction motors of all types,
power electronic power converters, arc welding machines, electric arc and induction furnaces,
and fluorescent and other types of arc lighting.Low power factors result in overall low power
system efficiency, including increased conductor and transformer losses and low voltage.
Low power factor also reduces line and transformer capacity.
Utilities must supply both the active and reactive power and compensate for these
losses. For this reason, most utilities charge their customers a penalty for low power factor.
Many utilities increase the demand charge for every percent the power factor drops below a
set value, say 95 percent. However, more and more utilities are charging for kVAR-hours just
like they charge for kW-hours. These charges provide utility customers an incentive to
increase their power factor by the use of power factor improvement capacitors.
Power factor improvement capacitors. Power factor improvement capacitors improve the
power factor by providing the reactive power needed by the load. They also reduce the phase
shift difference between voltage and current. Like a battery, they store electrical energy.
Unlike a battery, they store energy on thin metal foil plates separated by a sheet of polymer
material. They release the energy every half-cycle of voltage. They cause the current to lead
the voltage by 90. This subtracts from the phase angle shift of induction loads that cause the
current to lag the voltage by 90. This is how capacitors reduce the phase shift between
current and voltage and provide the magnetization that motors and transformers need to
operate. Therefore, capacitors are an inexpensive way to provide reactive power at the load
and increase power factor.
Harmonic resonance. Electrical harmonic resonance occurs when the inductive reactance of
a power system equals the capacitive reactance of a power system. This is a good thing at the
fundamental frequency of 60 Hz and results in the current and voltage being in phase and
unity power factor. However, it is not so good when it occurs at a harmonic frequency. If
resonance occurs at a harmonic frequency, the harmonic current reaches a maximum value
and causes overheating of transformers, capacitors, and motors; tripping of relays; and
incorrect meter readings.
Filters detune the capacitor away from the resonant frequency. Filters usually cost
twice as much as capacitors. Filters also remove the effect of distortion power factor and
increase the true power factor.
3)Poor wiring and grounding. An EPRI survey found poor wiring and grounding in the endusers facilities cause 80 percent of all power quality problems. When poor wiring and
grounding cause equipment to fail, utility customers often attribute the failure to the utility.
They may even buy expensive power conditioning equipment that only treats the symptom of
the power quality problem and does not solve the underlining cause of the problem. They
should, instead, identify the effects of poor wiring and grounding, determine the cause of the
power quality problem, and find a simple way to correct the problem.
4)Static electricity. Another cause of power quality problems is static electricity. Static
electricity occurs when the rubbing of one object against another causes a voltage buildup.
For example, you can build up an electric charge on your body when you rub your shoes on a
carpet. A discharge of static electricity can occur when you then touch a grounded object, like
another person or a metal object. Although static electricity power quality problems are
infrequent, they are often overlooked.
Static electricity can create voltages of 3000 V or more and damage sensitive electronic
equipment. You can minimize static electricity problems by increasing the humidity, changing
the carpet, clothing, and furniture to nonstatic types, and by grounding the person working on
a piece of equipment to the equipment with a wrist strap.

Utility Side of The Meter

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1) IEEE 519 sets an upper current distortion limit of 5 percent to prevent overheating of

transformers. The maximum overvoltage for transformers is 5 percent at rated load

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