Power quality — the theme of this month’s issue — has always had a place in EC&M’s broad spectrum of technical subject matter areas. In fact, this topic has been extremely popular over the years, especially among subscribers who have been loyal followers of our “Inside PQ” and “PQ Corner” departments. No matter how many articles we run, readers always seem to come back wanting more — more on exactly what this phenomenon is, how to better understand specific disturbance types (e.g., sags, swells, surges, transients), why these invisible culprits wreak so much havoc on electrical equipment, and how to prevent or correct such problems.

According to the old IEEE Emerald Book many of you are familiar with (this and the other 13 Color Books have been divided into approximately 70 smaller “dot” standards known as the IEEE 3000 Standards Collection for Industrial and Commercial Power Systems), power quality is “the concept of powering and grounding electronic equipment in a manner that is suitable to the operation of that equipment and compatible with the premise wiring system and other connected equipment.” So why do so many misconceptions still surround this subject? Electrical Trainer Randy Barnett may have said it best in an article in 2010 in which he explained that while IEEE’s definition is certainly true, it “does little to help you explain to upper management why the conveyor motor just tripped!” From a practical standpoint, Barnett encourages electrical professionals to think of power quality more as a measure of how well the electrical distribution system supports proper operation of its loads. “If you have no problems with your electrical loads, you have no obvious power quality issue,” he wrote. “If you suffer utility blackouts, overheating transformers, circuit breaker trips, neutral conductors overheating, computer lockups, or unexplained equipment downtime, you most likely have power quality-related culprits at work in your facility. Whether or not these issues turn into significant problems depends upon their severity and your plant operation.”

But before we jump too quickly into investigation and analysis mode, it’s important to consider another piece of the equation. Without reliable power, there is no power quality to assess. This reality was never more apparent than in the month of February, when severe winter storms overtaxed electric generation resources in Texas, causing major power outages/rolling blackouts and exposing the vulnerability of the grid (especially given the state’s deregulated energy sector). To better understand this debacle, I turned to the experts at EC&M’s sister publication, T&D World. There, I quickly found a couple of key articles that put things into perspective. The first one, “Blackout Misconceptions: People on Social Media Become Overnight Power Experts,” is written by Jeff Postelwait, an editor with T&D World. In it, he does a masterful job of demystifying the misinformation surrounding this crisis. Senior Director of Content Martha Davis also offered up an insightful piece on the potential policy outcomes that may result from the Texas power outage. These are worth the read.

Further exploring the concept of power quality health, don’t miss this month’s cover story, “Cause and Effect: How to Mitigate Harmonics Problems,” by Frank Healy of Fluke Corp., or “The 5 Most Popular Online PQ Articles of 2020” by Bryan Glenn on page 32 of the print issue. Both demonstrate how troubleshooting PQ issues can help facilities save money, optimize energy usage, and protect equipment from future damage. Also check out our new online power quality quiz, available on the members-only section of our website for a chance to win a $25 gift card.