Home / Power factor and your MSEDCL bill
How power factor affects your MSEDCL electricity bill
Read your bill, find your power factor and see how much extra a low power factor may cost you under kVAh billing.
Last reviewed: November 2026. Tariff rules change, so always confirm against your own bill and the latest MERC tariff order.
The short answer
If your MSEDCL bill is based on kVAh (apparent energy) instead of only kWh, then a low power factor makes you pay for more units than you actually used. Improving your power factor with an APFC panel brings kVAh down towards kWh, and your billed units fall with it.
How MSEDCL bills: kWh vs kVAh
Traditionally, bills were based on kWh, with a separate incentive or penalty for power factor. MSEDCL has been moving to kVAh billing, where the power factor effect is built into the unit itself. A consumer who draws more reactive power pays more, and one who keeps power factor near 1.0 pays less.
- HT consumers: kVAh billing has applied since 1 April 2020.
- LT consumers: the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission’s multi-year tariff orders for 2025 onwards extended kVAh billing to LT consumers, with industrial and commercial consumers above about 20 kW sanctioned load being the ones most affected.
How to read your bill
Look for these lines on your MSEDCL bill:
- kWh: active energy, the useful energy you used
- kVAh: apparent energy, the figure you may be billed on
- RkVAh (lag) and RkVAh (lead): reactive energy
- Billed or assessed power factor
Then calculate your average power factor:
For example, if your bill shows 8,500 kWh and 10,000 kVAh, your power factor is 8,500 ÷ 10,000 = 0.85.
How much extra are you paying?
Under kVAh billing, your billed units are your kWh divided by your power factor. This table shows how much extra you are billed compared with your real use:
| Power factor | Extra units billed over kWh |
|---|---|
| 1.00 | 0% |
| 0.99 | about 1% |
| 0.95 | about 5% |
| 0.90 | about 11% |
| 0.85 | about 18% |
| 0.80 | 25% |
The lower your power factor, the more you pay. Moving from 0.80 to 0.98 can cut the billed units by roughly a fifth.
Estimate your monthly saving
Illustrative example: 10,000 kWh a month, power factor 0.80 corrected to 0.98.
- Present kVAh = 10,000 ÷ 0.80 = 12,500
- After correction = 10,000 ÷ 0.98 = about 10,204
- Units saved = about 2,296 kVAh a month
- At an assumed ₹10 per kVAh, that is about ₹22,900 a month
Use your own rate from your bill. The rate and your load decide the real figure.
Why overcorrection is also a problem
The power factor on your bill takes both lagging and leading reactive energy into account. If too many capacitors stay switched on when your load drops, power factor can swing to leading, and you can be charged for that too. This is why an automatic APFC panel, whose controller switches capacitor stages according to the load, is better than fixed capacitors on a varying load.
How to bring your power factor up
- Find your power factor from your bill (kWh ÷ kVAh).
- Check your load pattern. Motors, air conditioners, compressors, transformers and lifts all draw reactive power.
- Install an APFC panel sized for your load and your target power factor, usually 0.98 to 0.99.
- Check for harmonics. If you have VFDs, UPS systems or many electronic loads, detuned reactors may be needed to protect the capacitors.
- Review your bills after installation to confirm kVAh has moved closer to kWh.
Related: kVAh vs kWh: how power factor raises your electricity bill.
Frequently asked questions
Does MSEDCL charge a power factor penalty?
Under the older kWh billing, there were separate power factor penalties and incentives. Under kVAh billing, the effect is built into the units billed, so low power factor simply means more kVAh. Check which applies to your category.
Is kVAh billing applicable to me?
It applies to HT consumers and to larger LT consumers in the categories covered by MERC’s tariff orders. Your bill and tariff category confirm it. Send us your bill if you want help checking.
What power factor should I aim for?
As close to 1.0 as practical. Most panels are set for about 0.98 to 0.99, which avoids overcorrection into leading power factor.
How long does an APFC panel take to pay for itself?
It depends on your load, power factor and rate. If you are paying for 15 to 20 percent extra units every month, the payback can be short. Send us your bill and we will estimate it.
Related guides
More on power factor and your electricity bill.
Get a free bill review
Send us a recent electricity bill. We tell you your power factor, how much extra you may be paying, and what correction could achieve. We usually reply within one working day.
Phone / WhatsApp
+91 98210 43601
Address
Sabnis Building, Tilak Chowk, Kalyan West, Maharashtra 421301