Pop writes:

Doesn't that mean,
in reality, that, unless the PF is corrected, that the customer
is the one with the advantage? As in, "free" power?

No, it is just wasted in the transmission lines and/or in reduced plant
generating capacity. The point of the reactive meter is to get the culprit
customer to pay for it.

A purely reactive load would be consuming all kinds of current down the
line, and be loading the utility power plant, but show zero watts on a real
power meter.