Equivalency Measures and Conversions

Unit-of-Measure Equivalents

Unit	Equivalent
Kilowatt (kW)	1,000 Watts
Megawatt (MW)	1,000,000 Watts
Gigawatt (GW)	1,000,000 Kilowatts (kW)=1,000,000,000 Watts
Kilowatt-hours (kWh)	1,000 Watt-hours
Megawatt-hours (MWh)	1,000,000 Watt-hours
Gigawatt-hours (GWh)	1,000,000,000 Watt-hours
U.S.Dollar	1,000 Mills
U.S.Cent	10 Mills
Btu (British Thermal Unit)	252 Calories

Annual kWh of Generation Calculated from kW Capacity:

kW * Capacity Factor * Annual Hours = Kilowatt-hours

Annual kWh of Consumption Calculated from kW Load Factor:

kW * Load Factor * Annual Hours = Kilowatt-hours

kVa to kW Conversion:

kVa * Power Factor = kW

Heat Rate:

Heat Rate = Btu (heat input) per kWh (electricity output)

Dollars ($) per Btu to Dollars ($) per kWh:

$ / kWh = Heat Rate * $ / Btu

Hourly Demands (kW) from 15-minute (kWh) Interval Data:

For estimated hourly demand, multiply the kWh value for the time period by 4 (i.e., Estimated kW = kWht * 4)

For actual demand for the hour, add the four consecutive 15 time periods (i.e., Actual kW = kWh1 + kWh2 + kWh3 + kWh4)

For peak demand for the hour, multiply the largest of the four consecutive 15 time periods by 4 (i.e., Peak Demand (kW) = kWhLargest * 4)

Load Factor (%):

kWh /(kW * hours) for a time period

Average Fuel Conversion Factors

Electricity:	3,412 Btu/kWh
Fuel Oil:	138,700 Btu/gallon
Natural Gas:	1,030 Btu/cubic foot
LPG/Propane:	95,500 Btu/gallon
Coal:	24,580,000 Btu/ton
Purchased Steam:	1,000 Btu/pound

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