Managing Electrical Demand & Peaks

Motors do not just consume energy; they shape a site's electrical peaks, and peaks carry their own charges. A big motor starting direct-on-line briefly draws several times its running current, and a shift's worth of machines starting together can set the half-hourly maximum demand that prices the whole month. This lesson connects motor starting behaviour to the demand and capacity charges on the bill, and covers the levers: staggering, soft starting, and drives.