A system for delivering desired magnitudes of AC power to a load. A three-cycle power mode includes a 1st and 3rd cycle in which either no AC power, or full power, is delivered to the load, and a 2nd cycle in which an AC switch is triggered at a desired phase angle to deliver the desired increments of AC power during the 2nd cycle. AC power is delivered in each cycle in a manner to provide a net zero DC offset in the AC current delivered to the load. A two-cycle mode can be achieved by using the 1st and 2nd cycle, or by using the 2nd and 3rd cycles to optimize power delivery performance. A multi-cycle power delivery system can employ both the three-cycle and the two-cycle modes together to minimize the harmonic content during delivery of various power levels.