Energy Monitor - Power Factor?

[Texasmark]

My power company wants .85 or better. As others have stated, large inductive loads (non-compensated motors and compressors under big loads) are highly inductive. I use the ELI the ICE man novelty. In an inductive circuit, if purely inductive the Voltage leads the current by 90 degrees and the product is zero watts. In a purely resistive circuit the voltage and current are in phase, and the power consumed is 100% of V x A.

Power companies get paid on kiloWatts (1000s of VxA in phase) so they get mad at you when you cheat them out of their billings. Manufacturer's combat this problem by shunting motors with "run" capacitors (ICE) where the current leads the voltage by 90 degrees for a pure cap circuit. By balancing the inductive and capacitance reactances, (impedance resistance) they can run the heavy machinery and the power company can get paid for their services.

On smart meters, have no idea as to what's inside. I have used test equipment that monitors and displays the phase angle of the unit under test (UUT) so I know it's just a matter of do they or don't they.

 

[Redneck in training]

My power company wants .85 or better. As others have stated, large inductive loads (non-compensated motors and compressors under big loads) are highly inductive. I use the ELI the ICE man novelty. In an inductive circuit, if purely inductive the Voltage leads the current by 90 degrees and the product is zero watts. In a purely resistive circuit the voltage and current are in phase, and the power consumed is 100% of V x A.

Power companies get paid on kiloWatts (1000s of VxA in phase) so they get mad at you when you cheat them out of their billings. Manufacturer's combat this problem by shunting motors with "run" capacitors (ICE) where the current leads the voltage by 90 degrees for a pure cap circuit. By balancing the inductive and capacitance reactances, (impedance resistance) they can run the heavy machinery and the power company can get paid for their services.

On smart meters, have no idea as to what's inside. I have used test equipment that monitors and displays the phase angle of the unit under test (UUT) so I know it's just a matter of do they or don't they.

Many plants use synchronous motors to compensate for power factor. In example some large electric sync motor driven compressor(s) in refinery is used to compensate for PF by varying excitation.
How is a synchronous motor used for power factor correction? How is it operated at max efficiency? - Quora

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Commercial users pay by kva, which includes pf, not kw. They have an incentive to raise their pf. They also have sliding window demand charges, which charges more if you use lots of power in a small time period vs spreading it out.