Many utilities and end users have discovered that they need to assess the economics of power quality improvements before they decide what power quality improvement to implement. They need to determine the costs of the disturbances and the improvement. They need to determine the level of power quality they wish to achieve. They need to decide where to make the power quality improvements on the utility or the end-user side of the meter, or a combination of both. On the utility side of the meter, power quality improvements can include the addition of a static switch, custom power equipment such as a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR), and changes to power system operation like capacitor switching. On the end-user side of the meter, power quality improvements can include the addition of power conditioning equipment, a change in the equipment specifications and design, or an improvement in the wiring and grounding inside the end-user facility. Or both the utility and the end user can together make power quality improvements.

Everyone wants to determine the optimum solution or solutions. To do this, you need to evaluate solutions at all levels of the power system from the utility s transmission and distribution system to the end user s secondary system. You need to compare the cost of these improvements to the benefits to determine the cost-effectiveness of the improvements.

The benefits include reduced cost of the power quality problem. On the end-user side of the meter, the cost of a power quality problem can include lost production...