IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 27

should be planned and the infrastructure requirements to enable high penetration levels of DERs. This culminated in the
creation of SCE's DRP in July 2015. A part of this plan was
a proposal for five demonstration projects, A, B, C, D, and E.
These demonstrations seek to validate the methodologies developed within the DRP and show how a modern grid can
better enable DERs. At a high level, the demonstration projects aim to show the following:
✔✔ how the integration capacity analysis (ICA) methodology is applied to all line section or nodes within a
distribution planning area (DPA)
✔✔ how the locational net benefit analysis (LNBA) is applied for the selected DPA to demonstrate the DER
locational deferral value
✔✔ how DER services could result in net benefits
✔✔ how distribution operations, planning, and investment
would be supported or impacted at high levels of DER
penetration
✔✔ how the utility would serve as a distribution system
operator of a microgrid where DERs support customer
load and reliability services.
Demonstration A and B, the utilities ICA and LNBA analyses, are completed and filed in late December 2016 with the
CPUC. Demonstrations C, D, and E are pending a CPUC
decision expected in the first quarter of 2017.
For demonstration A, SCE is applying the commission-approved ICA methodology to two selected DPAs that represent
the typical rural and urban physical and electrical conditions
of SCE's distribution system. The representative urban DPA

(Johanna DPA in Orange County) has a mixture of residential,
commercial, and light industrial loads and is located within
the PRP region. The representative rural DPA (Rector DPA in
California's Central Valley) has a mixture of residential and
commercial, with significant agriculture loads. The DER hosting capacity is being computed down to the line section/node
level without triggering any infrastructure upgrade. Both reverse power flow back to the substation and normal power flow
scenarios will be analyzed. These calculations will determine
the ICA for 33 circuits out of the Johanna substation in Orange
County and 44 circuits out of the Rector substation. The results
of these calculations will be displayed for the two DPAs as additional layers on SCE's distributed energy resource interconnection map (DERiM).
For demonstration B, SCE will demonstrate the use of
the LNBA methodology for identifying potential distribution infrastructure project deferrals, including the development of DER requirements to provide transmission and
distribution benefits. One of the two DPAs from demonstration A (Rector DPA) has been selected for demonstration B.
This DPA has a variety of proposed projects representative
of the types commonly found on SCE's transmission and
distribution system. Similar to demonstration A, the locational value of DERs based on the LNBA methodology will
be calculated and displayed as additional layers to SCE's
existing DERiM.
For demonstration C, SCE has proposed a project that
will implement a field demonstration that can be used to
validate the ability of DERs to achieve net benefits from

* Areas Shaded in Blue
Are Known Future
Projects Planned for in
the Distribution
Substation Plan
Hines
Paragon

* Red Lines Give a
General Direction
of the Circuits Only
* A Majority of the EI Toro
Marine Base Has Yet to
Be Planned

Elden
Keeline

figure 6. The location of the proposed demonstration in the Irvine Substation area.
march/april 2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017