What causes power quality problems?   About 90% of all power quality problems in our area start inside the customer's facility with: • Wiring and grounding problems. • Overloaded circuits. • Temporary faults along power lines that bring electricity to your business.

Power quality is important for business

• Power quality problems can prevent your business from operating efficiently, causing equipment damage, lost revenue and safety issues.
• The most apparent signs of power quality problems are equipment malfunctions or blown fuses.
• Increasing reliance on sensitive electronic equipment makes power quality problems more visible and troublesome for business.
• Electronic equipment must be properly wired and grounded.
• It also must be compatible with the premises' wiring system and other connected equipment.

Free power quality check
MGE can help your business reduce costs and improve efficiency. If you’ve ruled out obvious equipment problems (broken parts, incorrect settings or operator error), call us. Our engineers and technicians will:

• Perform a site analysis of your facility.
• Check circuit wiring and grounding.
• Give you written recommendations.
• Identify problems external to your business.

Minimize risk of power disturbances
You need a strategy to protect critical systems and your profits. MGE can help you assess the risks of power disturbances to your business. We'll help you minimize those risks and find the right systems for your business, such as:

• Uninterruptible power source.
• Whole-facility surge protection.
• Distributed generation options.

Contact MGE

• E-mail our Power Quality specialist
• Call MGE's Business Helpline at (608) 252-7007

For more information

• Power Monitoring & Analysis [PDF - 37 KB]
• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). MGE recommends a UPS be applied to electronic equipment that could be adversely affected by power problems. Choose the type of UPS by how critical the equipment is that needs to be protected.
• Distributed Generation
• Safe Backup Power for Homes/Farms/Small Businesses [PDF - 76 KB]
• Electrical Disturbances - How to Protect Businesses [PDF - 124 KB]. By working with local businesses, MGE has uncovered common causes of electrical disturbances.
• How to Protect Computers from Power Outages [PDF - 384 KB]. Protect computer equipment during an outage with a UPS.
• Portable Generators Portable generators are designed to be connected only to selected appliances or lamps, never connected directly to a building’s wiring system.