Why Electricity providers charge you on KVA when..

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Kaaud

Kaaud

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there is no power consumption?,as I know that reactive power returns to source without any conversion??
 
kVA are not free. You need to consider the I-squared R losses in the transmission lines. If you were running a purely inductive load at your end, the power company would still be using some real power, just to push the amps through the transmission lines.
 
bcorbin said:
kVA are not free. You need to consider the I-squared R losses in the transmission lines. If you were running a purely inductive load at your end, the power company would still be using some real power, just to push the amps through the transmission lines.
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Thats right,as there is more inductive current consumed,thx
 
The utility has to install 100 KVA (or more) of distribution equipment to supply us 100 KVA of load, whether it is 80 kW at 0.8 power factor or 10 kw at 0.1 power factor. The same amps flow through the transformers, transmission lines, breakers, cables and fuses for both loads so the equipment has to be sized for the KVA. We have to pay for that equipment somehow. Paying for KVAH or maximum KVA demand is one way. The KWH charge pays for the fuel burned, the KVA charge pays for the delivery equipment. (Please forgive the several assumptions and approximations inherent in this explanation.)
 
Kaaud said:
there is no power consumption?,as I know that reactive power returns to source without any conversion??
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if I read the question correctly, there is still a charge even you did not consume anything? it could be the minimal connection fee for the service.

for the kVA thing, motors need kVARs to function. and that is where the bulk of the kVARs generated goes to. and that why residential units (who have some small motors) are not charged for kVARs. industrial and some commercial customers get the bill for kVARs
 
robbietan said:
if I read the question correctly, there is still a charge even you did not consume anything? it could be the minimal connection fee for the service.

for the kVA thing, motors need kVARs to function. and that is where the bulk of the kVARs generated goes to. and that why residential units (who have some small motors) are not charged for kVARs. industrial and some commercial customers get the bill for kVARs
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Motors need kVARs to function, true.....but they still do not "consume" them. Only real power is consumed. Industrial and some commercial customers get a bill for kVARs because, not consuming as much real power as is represented by the actual amount of current flowing through their service, they have to be charged for some countable quantity. Either that, or the POCO will give them a $/kW-hr cost schedule based upon their power factor, and ignore kVARs, in a direct sense.
 
robbietan said:
if I read the question correctly, there is still a charge even you did not consume anything? it could be the minimal connection fee for the service.
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No and yes. :)

No, you didn't read the question correctly, and yes, there usually is a monthly minimum.
 
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