When Your Facility Should Consider a Power Quality Assessment

Power quality assessments are especially valuable when you notice:

• Frequent breaker trips with no clear mechanical cause

• Overheating in panels, cables, or transformers

• Unexplained motor/VFD issues or drive faults

• Lighting flicker or intermittent controls behavior

• Reduced equipment life and repeated electronic failures

• Voltage complaints after adding new loads or expansions

• Upcoming electrical upgrades, SES work, or load capacity increases

If your plant is expanding or modernizing, assessing power quality early can prevent costly rework later.

Common Power Quality Issues in Industrial Facilities

1) Voltage sags and swells

Often caused by large motor starts, switching events, or utility disturbances. These can trip sensitive controls and disrupt production.

2) Harmonics and waveform distortion

Nonlinear loads such as VFDs, rectifiers, UPS systems, and modern electronics can introduce harmonics leading to overheating and poor equipment performance.

3) Poor power factor

Low power factor can increase demand charges and reduce available system capacity, especially when motors and inductive loads dominate.

4) Phase imbalance

Imbalance can cause motors to run hotter, reduce torque efficiency, and shorten component life.

5) Grounding and bonding problems

Loose connections, improper bonding, or inadequate grounding can create safety risks and unpredictable equipment behavior.

What Happens After a Power Quality Assessment?

A power quality assessment is only valuable if you implement the recommended corrective actions. Many facilities require construction and installation support to complete upgrades safely and on schedule.

Common corrective project scopes include:

• Service Entrance Section (SES) upgrades to improve reliability and protection

• Transformer changes to support new loads and reduce overheating risk

• Switchgear modifications and distribution reconfiguration

• Feeder, conduit, and cable routing enhancements for capacity and stability

• Load balancing and layout improvements for better performance

• Outage-window tie-ins for safe cutovers and system transitions

How Bunney’s Inc. Supports Power Quality Improvement Projects

While engineering teams and electrical specialists perform the assessment and design, Bunney’s Inc. supports the project execution side helping facilities implement solutions safely and efficiently.

Our support capabilities include:

• Industrial construction services for electrical infrastructure modifications

• Heavy lifting and rigging for transformers, switchgear, and major equipment

• Precision equipment positioning to ensure accurate fit-up and clearances

• Outage support services for shutdown work, tie-ins, and cutovers

• Safety-first field execution aligned with facility and utility requirements

When corrective actions involve major equipment changeouts or schedule-critical outage work, we help keep the job controlled and moving.

Benefits of Addressing Power Quality Issues

A properly executed power quality improvement plan can deliver:

• Reduced nuisance trips and fewer shutdown interruptions

• Longer equipment life and fewer electronics failures

• Improved electrical efficiency and capacity utilization

• Better process stability for sensitive loads

• Lower maintenance costs and reduced emergency repair risk

Conclusion: Turn Power Quality Findings into Real Improvements Contact Bunney’s Inc.

Power quality assessments help you identify what’s happening inside your electrical system but the real value comes from implementing the corrective work with safe, disciplined execution. Bunney’s Inc. supports power quality improvement projects by providing the field-ready construction services needed for upgrades, equipment installations, and outage tie-ins.

If your facility is planning a power quality assessment or needs support implementing corrective upgrades, contact Bunney’s Inc. today. We’re ready to help you improve reliability, protect critical equipment, and keep your operation running strong.