IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015 - 20

It's All in the Plans
Maximizing the Benefits
and Minimizing the Impacts
of DERs in an Integrated Grid

D

DISTRIBUTION PLANNERS ARE FACING A NEW REALITY:
the vast majority of new generation currently being connected to the
grid is through the distribution system. This "edge" of the grid,
where utilities have the least amount of visibility and controllability, is also where most of the change is occurring. The result is a
new set of challenges associated with further integrating these
ever increasing levels of distributed energy resources (DERs).
To meet these challenges, an integrated approach for planning
is needed.
The U.S. electricity landscape is undergoing a gradual
but far-reaching makeover. The existing power system was
designed to connect a relatively small number of large generation plants to a large number of consumers through an
extensive high-voltage transmission system and a mediumto low-voltage distribution system. In recent years, there has
been a notable influx of DERs onto the grid-particularly on
the distribution system, either at the medium- or low-voltage
level. Specifically, installations of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are growing rapidly in the United States, with 12.1 GW
installed by the end of 2013, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, accounting for 471,000 total installations. In
2013 alone in the United States, 155,000 grid-connected PV systems
were installed, with distribution-connected systems accounting for
94% of the additions. This is expected to nearly triple by 2016, translating to increased end-user self-generation and greater grid management
expense. This shift alters the manner in which electricity is being generated,
transmitted, and managed, thus necessitating a change in how utilities plan and
integrate this resource.

The Immense Scale of Distribution
An entire distribution service territory often consists of multiple large planning areas in which substations and feeders have widely varying design and control parameters. Due to unique design and operating
criteria developed over the years, two adjoining planning areas may have unique planning and operational requirements.
Within each planning area, utilities may have tens or even hundreds of substations that connect and deliver energy from
the transmission system to serve hundreds or thousands of different distribution feeders. Each of these feeders is outfitted
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Date of publication: 24 February 2015

20

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015 - Cover1
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015 - Cover2
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015 - 1
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IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015 - Cover3
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2015 - Cover4
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