How Significant Is Power Factor Correction in Industrial Settings?

 Power factor is low in industrial settings where most of the plant energy is used to power electric motors.
It is lowest when the induction motors tend to be over-sized and under-loaded. A lagging (less than 1.0) power factor causes some additional energy loss because more current is required – compared to an in-phase sinusoidal current – to deliver a certain amount of power. Correcting power factor can be an appropriate and cost-effective measure, but not because of energy savings.