The correct answer is: A. the greatest of all ?short time interval averaged? demand during a period.
Maximum demand is the greatest of all ?short time interval averaged? demand during a period. It is the highest load that a power plant must be able to supply at any given time. The maximum demand is usually expressed in kilowatts (kW).
The instantaneous maximum value of kVA supplied during a period is called the peak demand. The peak demand is usually higher than the maximum demand because it includes the power factor of the load. The power factor is a measure of how efficiently the load uses the power that is supplied to it. A load with a power factor of 1 uses the power that is supplied to it efficiently, while a load with a power factor of less than 1 uses the power that is supplied to it less efficiently.
The maximum demand is important because it determines the size of the power plant that is needed to meet the load. The peak demand is important because it determines the size of the transformers and other equipment that is needed to transmit and distribute the power.