The utility can be the source of unbalanced voltages due to

malfunctioning equipment, including blown capacitor fuses, open-delta

regulators, and open-delta transformers. Open-delta equipment can be more
susceptible to voltage unbalance than closed-delta since they only utilize two
phases to perform their transformations.
1.2.5 Waveform Distortions
This is the steady-state deviation in the voltage or current waveform
from an ideal sine wave.
These distortions are classified as
DC offset
Harmonics
Inter Harmonics
Notching
Noise
DC Offset:
The presence of a DC voltage or current in an AC power system is
termed dc offset.
This can occur as the result of a geomagnetic disturbance and half-wave
rectification. The offsets due to geomagnetic disturbances are especially
severe in higher latitudes. Poor grounding can also result in dc offsets.
Incandescent light bulb life extenders, for example, may consist of
diodes that reduce the RMS voltage supplied to the light bulb by half-wave
rectification.
The presence of a load drawing dc current results in a dc component of
the current in the secondary of a distribution transformer. This current will
cause a dc bias in the sinusoidal flux of the transformer core. This causes
additional heating and loss of transformer life. Direct current may also cause
the electrolytic erosion of grounding electrodes and other connectors
Harmonics:
Harmonics are sinusoidal voltages or currents having frequencies that
are integer multiples of the frequency at which the supply system is designed
to operate (termed the fundamental frequency usually 50 or 60 Hz).
Periodically distorted waveforms can be decomposed into a sum of the
fundamental frequency and the harmonics. Harmonic distortion originates in
the nonlinear characteristics of loads on the power system.
Power electronic loads like UPS, adjustable speed drives etc usually
cause harmonics in power system.
A measure of harmonic content in a signal is the total harmonic
distortion (THD). The percentage THD in a voltage is given by
√∑

where Vn denotes the magnitude of the nth harmonic voltage and Vl is the
magnitude of the fundamental voltage. A similar expression can also be
written for current harmonics.
Here the harmonic number implies the order of harmonics, i.e., 3rd
harmonic has a harmonic number of 3, 5th harmonic has a harmonic number
of 5 etc.

Inter Harmonics:
Voltages or currents having frequency components that are not integer
multiples of the frequency at which the supply system is designed to operate
(e.g., 50 or 60 Hz) are called inter harmonics.
The main sources of inter harmonic waveform distortion are static
frequency converters, cycloconverters, induction furnaces and arcing devices.
Power line carrier signals can also be considered as inter harmonics.
Inter harmonics can excite quite severe resonances on the power
system when the varying inter harmonic frequency becomes coincident with
natural frequencies of the system.
These affects power line carrier signaling and induce visual flicker in
fluorescent and other arc lighting as well as in computer display devices.

Notching:
Notching is a periodic voltage distortion due to the operation of power
electronic converters when current com mutates from one phase to other.
During this period there is a momentary short circuit between the two
phases that distorts voltages. The maximum voltage during notches depends
on the system impedance. The frequency components that are associated with
notches are usually very high.
During notching period, there is a momentary short circuit between
two phases, pulling the voltage as close to zero as permitted by system
impedances.