Power Quality

Issue Summary | Industry Response | Issue Management |  Resource Library

Issue Summary

In the electricity industry, power quality and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) have become increasingly complex and important for distribution utilities as well as their customers. The term “power quality” in the broad sense encompasses all aspects pertaining to the quality of power supply including the continuity of service and waveform distortions. “Power quality” is more commonly defined in terms of the degree to which the delivery of the electric power affects the performance of electrically connected equipment and customers loads. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) refers to the proper functioning of equipment in a given electrical environment, which involves more than just the quality of the supply voltage.

Power quality has become an increasingly important issue as the use of electronics has proliferated throughout the industrial, commercial and, particularly, the residential sector. This high technology is extremely sensitive to power quality, and can produce harmonic disturbances back to the power supply, thus causing power quality problems for other devices as well as for the grid itself.

The European governments have addressed these power quality problems by making it mandatory, as of January 2001, for all low-voltage electrical and electronic products sold in Europe to comply with the IEC EMC harmonic emissions limits standards in order to minimize power quality problems for customers and distribution utilities. The CEA Power Quality Task Group is working towards similar requirements here in Canada. 

Industry Response

The Canadian electricity industry has been working with its customers and other stakeholders to minimize power quality problems. For example, CEA and its members are participating actively in the development of international and national standards on power quality and EMC under the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). CEA members have undertaken additional power quality research and surveys to help with the development of these international EMC standards.

If the power quality / EMC requirements in the international IEC standards were implemented in the product design of the low-voltage electrical and electronic products sold in Canada, both the customers and distribution utilities would have significantly less power quality problems due to harmonic disturbances from customer equipment.

Issue Management

Power quality issues are managed by the the CEA Distribution Council.

Key Contact
Devin McCarthy
Manager, Distribution
Tel:  613-688-2960
Email:  mccarthy@electricity.ca

Resource Library

Relevant Links

• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Canadian Standards Association (CSA)