Electrical power is the rate of work that can be accomplished by electricity. There are three types of electric power:
- Real power, which is measured in units of watts, kilowatts or megawatts
- Apparent power, which is measured in units of volt-amps, kilovolt-amps or megavolt-amps
- Reactive power, which is measured in units of volt-amps reactive, kilovolt-amps reactive or megavolt-amps reactive
The total amount of power that a customer consumes and that a utility must supply is called apparent power. Apparent power is a combination of the real power plus the reactive power consumed by the customer.