1

Abstract This paper presents research work in distribution

system voltage and var optimization. For increased efficiency
and voltage regulation, an increasing number of voltage and var
control devices have been adopted by utilities. These devices
usually work autonomously according to local conditions, and
consequently the controller settings may not be optimized in
terms of specific objectives such as loss minimization and
demand reduction. To reach an optimal solution, these
controllers need to work collectively within a coordinated
framework considering system conditions. This paper reports
on-going research in voltage and var optimization. Results
considering different load type combinations are presented. It is
shown that load types play an essential role in determining the
optimization solution.

Index Terms Distribution system, Voltage and var
optimization, voltage regulation.

I. INTRODUCTION

O regulate voltage levels in power distribution systems,
voltage regulator and on-load tap changer are widely
adopted. For reactive power compensation and control, fixed
or switchable capacitor banks are usually utilized. Note that
voltage regulating devices can also affect reactive power
flow, and capacitor banks impact voltage values as well [1-5].
In current practices, each voltage controller and switchable
capacitor bank are usually operated autonomously based on
local measurements without coordination. In order words, the
setting of each controller is determined rather independently.
Such practices have certain advantages: a) each controlling
device is easy to operate by following simple rules; b) no
communication between devices is required; c) no system
model (network topology, impedances, load, etc.) is entailed.
There are also disadvantages. Since different devices work
uncoordinatedly, non-optimal solutions are usually obtained.
It has been recognized that it is necessary to consider all
the controllers together with the network model in order to
optimize the voltage regulation and var control
simultaneously using a procedure called integrated voltage
and var optimization (IVVO) [2][5].
This paper presents the work performed at the University
of Kentucky (UK) related to voltage and var optimization.
Section II describes the distribution load modelling and

1. Department of electrical and computer engineering, university of
Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
2. Owen Electric Cooperative, Inc., Owenton, KY, USA

adopted power flow algorithm. Sections III and IV present
the methods for reactive power optimization and voltage
regulation optimization, respectively. The integrated voltage
regulation and reactive power optimization is delineated in
Section V. Section VI provides case study results, followed
by the conclusion.
II. DISTRIBUTION LOAD MODELING AND POWER FLOW
Voltage regulation and reactive power optimization usually
requires solving power flow problems. It is necessary to
accurately model the load, since different load types will
greatly impact the solution.
This section presents the load modeling methodology and
power flow algorithm adopted in our study. As pointed in
reference [1], there are seven commonly utilized load types,
including constant PQ load, constant impedance load,
constant current load, and combination of the above types.
These different load types are explained as follows [1].
A. Distribution System Load Modeling

1. Conventional constant P, Q load model.

The load current is calculated using base power and
voltage across the load.
b L
S I V =
*
) ( (1)

* *
) ( ) (
V
jQ P
V
S
I
b b b
L
+
= =

(2)

where,
V voltage across the load;

L
I load current;

b
S nominal complex power;

b
P ,
b
Q nominal real, reactive power, respectively.

All the quantities refer to the single phase quantity. The
voltage represents the voltage across the single-phase load. A
three-phase load consists of three single-phase loads. The
subscript b denotes the base value or nominal value.
The real power and reactive power do not vary versus node
voltage. The load current varies by the inverse of voltage.


2. Constant Z load model.

The load impedance is calculated using the base voltage
and base power.

Distribution System Voltage and Var
Optimization
Wen Fan
1
, Yuan Liao
1
, Jim See
2
, Bobby Goins
2
, Chuck Gill
2
, James Petreshock
2
, James D. Bridges
2


T
978-1-4673-2729-9/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE


2

b b
b
b
b
jQ P
Z
V
V + =
*
) ( (3)

b b
b
b
jQ P
V
Z

=
2
| |
(4)


Then the load current is calculated using voltage across the
load
b
L
Z
V
I = (5)

The real and reactive power P, Q are obtained as
)
| |
(
2
b
Z
V
real P = (6)

)
| |
(
2
b
Z
V
imag Q = (7)

The real power and reactive power vary by the square of
the voltage. The load current is linearly proportional to the
voltage.

3. Constant P but Q is modeled as a constant reactance.

The active load current is calculated using base P and the
voltage

*
) (
LP b
I V P = (8)

*
) (
V
P
I
b
LP
= (9)


And the reactive impedance is obtained using base reactive
power and base voltage as
b
b
b
b
b
Q
V
j
jQ
V
Z
2 2
| | | |
=

= (10)


Then the load current will be
b
b
L
Z
V
V
P
I + =
*
) ( (11)


The real power does not change versus voltage, but the
reactive power varies by the square of voltage. As can be
seen, the load current is a non-linear function of the voltage.

4. P and Q variation defined as an exponential function of the
voltage value.
This load type is very versatile and may be specified based
on specific needs and applications.

5. Constant current magnitude

The load current magnitude is calculated based on base
voltage and base power
| | | ) ( | | |
*
b
b b
b
b
L
V
jQ P
V
S
I
+
= = (12)


The load current is then obtained by using the calculated
magnitude, and the voltage angle as
| |
| |
V
V
V
jQ P
I
b
b b
L
+
= (13)

| || | V
V
jQ P
P
b
b b
+
= (14)

0 = Q (15)


It is assumed that the load current has the same phase angle
as the voltage and the magnitude is fixed. The real power
varies linearly with voltage magnitude, and reactive power is
zero.

6. Constant P that can be modified by loadshape multipliers,
but Q is a fixed value independent of time, i.e., fixed at the
nominal value.
The load current is obtained using base real and reactive
power, and the voltage as
* *
) ( ) (
V
jQ P
V
S
I
fixed b
L
+
= =

(16)

The difference between load type 6 and 1 is that the
b
Q in
1 can be modified by loadshape multipliers. But here,
fixed
Q
is fixed. A loadshape multiplier is a value used to scale the
load based on the specified load level.

7. Similar to 6, but Q is computed from a fixed reactance.

The active load current is calculated using the base real
power and voltage as
*
) (
LP b
I V P =

(17)
*
) (
V
P
I
b
LP
=

(18)
And the reactive impedance is obtained using the base
reactive power and base voltage as
b
b
b
b
fixed
Q
V
j
jQ
V
Z
2 2
| | | |
=

=

(19)
Then the load current will be derived as
fixed
b
L
Z
V
V
P
I + =
*
) (

(20)
The difference between 7 and 3 is that in 3 the reactance
can be modified based on loadshape multipliers. But in 7 the
reactance is fixed.

B. Distribution Power Flow Algorithm
Various methods have been published in the literature in
the past. The method adopted in our research follows the
method described in [1][6].
The method is based on bus admittance and impedance
matrix. The node voltage is calculated as the product of the
bus impedance matrix and the node current injection. The
node voltage is iteratively updated using the newly calculated
node injection current calculated based on the latest node
voltage. The node current injection vector consists of the load
current injections, which are calculated based on the
preceding subsection, and the source current injections. For
large system, the bus admittance matrix is factored into lower


3

and upper triangle matrices through the LU factorization
procedure, and the voltage is then calculated through the
forward substitution and backward substation process. This
can bring about considerable savings in computational time.
The flowchart is depicted in Figure 1.
In implementation, all load types will be treated as the
constant Z model when the node voltage deviates from the
normal voltage range so as to facilitate convergence, as
suggested in [1].



Figure 1. The flowchart of the distribution system power flow calculation

The voltage of a node is initialized based on its rated
voltage and the phase of the node. A program is developed at
UK capable of dealing with unbalanced systems. The
program is based on phase domain.
III. REACTIVE POWER OPTIMIZATION
A. Reactive Power Control
Reactive power is the power charged and discharged to and
from inductive and capacitive components in the power
system. Inductive loads like asynchronous motors and the
feeders consume reactive power. Reactive power is not really
dissipated, but is needed to deliver real power.
Reactive power increases the line current, which entails
higher thermal rating of the cables, causes larger power
losses, results in higher voltage drop on the line, and
demands higher voltage rating at the upstream substation.
Practical loads are resistive or inductive and thus the power
factor is 1.0 or smaller than 1.0. To mitigate the adverse
impacts of reactive power, reactive power compensation or
power factor correction is usually performed. Capacitor
devices such as capacitor banks are utilized to supply
reactive power to compensate the reactive power consumed
by the inductive load and the feeder.
For power factor correction, the capacitor banks are
usually installed at the load location. Ideally the combined
load power factor can be corrected to a unity value.
Overcompensation should be avoided since leading reactive
power has similar adverse effects as lagging reactive power.
While thyristor-based devices are versatile in providing
reactive power, capacitor banks including fixed and
switchable banks are more widely deployed. The settings of
the switchable banks are usually determined based on the
following quantities: a) the time of day, since demand of
reactive power versus time of day follows regular patterns; b)
temperature, considering that demand of reactive power has a
strong correlation with temperature, e.g. for air conditioners;
c) measurement of reactive current, or reactive power; d)
node voltage, considering whether voltage support is needed.
When providing reactive power to the system, capacitive
devices will also provide voltage support. This suggests an
optimal solution will only be possible if the settings of all
controllers for voltage support and reactive power control are
simultaneously considered.
B. Reactive Power Optimization
In our work, switchable capacitors are utilized to supply
reactive power. Reactive power optimization is to determine
the capacitor bank settings to minimize loss, or minimize the
demand subject to constraints. The power loss is calculated
as the sum of square of branch currents times the branch
resistance. The demand is obtained as the substation current
times voltage times power factor. The constraints include bus
voltage limits (say 0.95 1.05 nominal voltage), power flow
equations, harmonic limits (say for total harmonic distortion),
current limits, shunt capacitor change limits, whether
capacitor bank is ganged or unganged, power factor limits at
certain locations, and so forth. Another constraint may be the
maximum switching times of a capacitor bank during certain
period of time accounting for wear and tear factors.
The control variables to be determined are the settings of
switchable capacitor banks, which are integer variables. The
state variables include the node voltages.
Branch current is a linear function of node voltage, and
thus the loss is a quadratic function of node voltage.
Minimization of loss can be formulated as an integer
quadratic programming problem.
The substation voltage is generally modelled as a constant
voltage. Therefore, the demand is a linear function of the
branch current at the substation, and can be written as a linear
function of the node voltage. As such, minimizing demand
can be formulated as an integer linear programming problem.
There are several potential solutions to the formulated
problems. The first one is the brute force method, where
every setting is attempted and the one resulting in the
minimized objective value is certainly the optimal solution.
Suppose we have N switchable capacitor banks, each with M
possible settings. The total number of trials will be
N
M . For
instance, for N = 6, M = 4, there will be 4096 (ganged), =
no
yes
Formulate bus admittance matrix
Perform LU factorization
Initialize node voltage vector
Calculate node current injection vector
based on the latest node voltage vector
Update the node voltage vector
converged
Perform other
calculations


4

6.8719e10 (unganged) trials. So the brute force method may
become impractical if the number of capacitor banks
becomes large. In the second method, commercial
optimization software such as IBM ILOG CPLEX may be
used to solve the problem. However, for large system, this
method may be very time-consuming. The third method is
genetic method that iteratively searches the global solution
and requires significantly lower number of power flow
solutions than the brute force method. The fourth method is
the heuristic method that usually leads to sub-optimal
solution based on heuristics, but requires fewer power flow
calculations than other methods.
One heuristic method as suggested in [3] is summarized as
follows. Suppose switchable capacitor banks are located at
bus k1, k2 and k3. First all capacitor values are set to zero.
Then, we increase capacitor value by one capacitor unit at k1,
k2 or k3, run power flow and obtain loss (or demand). The
bus chosen to increase the capacitor value will be the one
with the least loss (demand). The previous step is iterated. A
capacitor bank value is capped at its upper limit. The
iteration is stopped if the loss (demand) starts to increase, or
if all capacitors reach their upper limits.
IV. VOLTAGE REGULATION OPTIMIZATION
A. Voltage Regulation
Voltage regulation is to maintain the voltage magnitude
across the distribution system within specified ranges. The
US Department o Agriculture, Rural Utilities service,
recommends that The maximum voltage drop on primary
distribution lines not exceed 8 volts (120 volt base) after no
more than 2 stages of re-regulation beyond the substation [7].
In Owen Electric System, the system voltage on the primary
side needs to be within 118 and 126 V (or 7080 V and 7560
V on the primary side), and the service voltage (customer
side voltage) needs to be within 114 and 126 V.
Voltage regulation/control devices are utilized to achieve
this goal. Common devices include voltage regulator and on-
load tap changer, which adjust the taps of tap changeable
transformers to control voltage. Capacitor banks may also
contribute to voltage regulation.
Voltage control is usually performed by following pre-
specified rules that can be coded in the controller. The
controller measures local voltage and responds accordingly.
There is usually no communication and coordination between
controllers.
B. Voltage Regulation Optimization

Voltage regulation optimization is to determine the optimal
settings of voltage regulator or tap changing transformer to
minimize the loss or demand subject to specified constraints.
For instance, a voltage regulator may have the following
features: Down 10%, 16 taps; up 10%, 16 taps; voltage
regulation resolution of 0.75 V based on 120 V base. The
solution needs to decide which tap the voltage regulator
needs to be set to.
The constraints may include voltage limits, current limits,
power flow equations, and setting limits of voltage regulators.
Similar to reactive power optimization, the loss and demand
minimization problem can be formulated as integer quadratic
programming problem and integer linear programming
problem, respectively.
Solutions may include brute force method, genetic
algorithm, commercial optimization solver, and heuristic
method. Suppose there are N regulators each with M taps, the
total number of trials will be
N
M . For N = 3, M = 33, the
trial will be 35937 (ganged) and 4.6411e+13 (unganged). So
the brute force method might not be feasible for large cases.
In one possible heuristic method, the integer variables are
treated as continuous variables first and after the solution is
obtained, the solution will be integerized to get an
approximate solution [2][5].
V. INTEGRATED VOLTAGE AND VAR OPTIMIZATION
Integrated voltage and var optimization is to determine the
settings of voltage regulating devices and reactive power
control devices simultaneously so as to minimize loss or
demand subject to constraints. Usually the settings of
switchable capacitor banks and voltage regulators are to be
determined. The constraints include power flow equations,
voltage and current limits, harmonic limits, and capacitor
bank and regulator setting limits. The problem is usually
formulated as a non-linear integer optimization problem for
loss minimization and integer linear programming problem
for demand minimization.
Directly tackling this problem is known to be very
challenging. A decomposition method may be adopted.
Reactive power and voltage regulation are weakly coupled
[2]. The reactive power problem can be solved by fixing
regulator settings, and the voltage regulation problem can be
solved by fixing the capacitor bank settings. The process is
iterated until control variables do not change or system
performance deteriorates.
Research in identifying effective solution to large scale
IVVO problem is in progress and findings will be reported in
future papers.
Data required for this type of analysis include
Distribution system model (source impedance,
network topology, feeder impedance, load rating)
capacitor bank size, changeable settings
Voltage regulator changeable settings
Voltage/current limits
Harmonic limits
other relevant inputs

Real time operational data such as load, status of switch, etc.,
if available, can also be exploited.
VI. CASE STUDIES
A Matlab program has been developed to carry out the
described algorithms. The power flow program is able to
handle unbalanced network, consisting of single phase, two
phase or three phase feeders and components. Three phase
load could be delta or star connected, neutral grounded or
ungrounded. Single phase, two phase or three phase voltage
regulator and capacitor banks can be modeled.





red
Fo
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or PQ load, wh
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e current decre
tal demand r
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crease, the los
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ower of load in
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ecreases, the lo
ecreases.
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Table I. Effects o

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load (W)
tion (W)
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6

be seen some of the node voltages are below 118 V thus
violating the code.

Figure 3. Voltage profile without Cap. and Regulator, 100% PQ load

After a 300 kVAR capacitor bank is added at bus 7. The
voltage profile is shown in Figure 4, and it is evinced that all
voltage violations have been eliminated.

Figure 4. Voltage profile with Cap. 300 kVAR at bus 7, 100% PQ load

Instead of adding capacitor banks, we may add a voltage
regulator between bus 4 and 7 at bus 4 location. With the
voltage regulator set to tap position at 2, the voltage profile is
shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Voltage profile with the regulator, 100% PQ load

It is demonstrated from Figure 4 and Figure 5 that either
adding capacitor banks or using voltage regulator in this case
corrects the voltage violations, but employing capacitor
banks yields smaller power loss.
For 100% constant current load, no voltage violation is
found for the initial network, and hence no capacitor bank or
regulator is needed for increasing node voltages.
B. Substation voltage set to 122 V (3.17% reduction from
126 V), voltage and var control

After the substation voltage is reduced, there are a number of
voltage violations. To boost the voltage, capacitor banks are
used. The results are shwon in Table II. The loss increases
after capacitor bank is added, since it over-compensates the
reactive power. This suggests that a better control action may
be that we employ a voltage regulator, together with the
capacitor bank.

Table II. Effects of voltage and var control actions (122 V)

Load type
Parameters 100% PQ 100% Z 100% I
Initial loss 75785.6398 63102.2936 77786.8331
Initial load 1727999.9888 1604336.6968 1883604.3463
Initial generation 1803785.6287 1667438.9904 1961391.1793
Control action add 1500
kVAR
capacitor bank
at bus 4
add 1300
kVAR
capacitor bank
at bus 4
add a 500
kVAR cap
bank at node
12
Final loss 81677.8168 77543.1212 93734.8741
Final load 1727999.9342 1720238.4819 1914218.4424
Final generation 1809677.7474 1797781.6478 2007953.3167

C. Substation voltage set to 124 V, optimal capacitor bank
placement
We have also developed an optimal capacitor bank
placement module to minimize the loss. The results vary with
substation voltage, and the results for substation voltage
being set to 124 V are shown here. In this study, the voltage
regulator is supposed to be bypassed.

Table III. Optimal capacitor bank placement

Load type Cap. placement Initial loss
(W)
Loss with cap.
placed (W)
100% PQ 100 kVar at each bus
14,12, 10, 7
72738.91 65382.15
100% Z 100 kVar at each bus
14,12, 7
65188.18 61959.33
100% I No cap needed 77841.69 N/A
50% PQ +
50% Z
100 kVar placed at
each bus 14, 12, 10, 4
68639.64 63657.71

Suppose that there are six three-phase capacitor banks of 100
kVar to be placed at the main feeder buses. The optimal
placement results are displayed in Table III. Column one lists
the load type. Optimal capacitor bank placement scheme is
shown in the second column. The losses without and with the
capacitor banks are shown in column 3 and 4, respectively.
Note that underground cables have considerable shunt
capacitances that provide sufficient reactive power
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
Nodes
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
Nodes
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
Nodes
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)


7

compensation for the reactance of the feeder. So for the
100% I load case, no additional capacitor is needed.
D. Integrated voltage and var optimization

This section presents results of optimized voltage and var
control. The objective function adopted is minimization of
loss, or demand.
In this study, there are two three-phase switchable
capacitor banks with a step change of 100 kVar and
maximum capacity of 300 kVar. These two banks are
equipped at bus 10 and 14. There is a voltage regulator: +-
10%, 16 ups and 16 downs. And the voltage limits need to be
maintained within: 118-126 V. the settings of the capacitor
banks and the regulator are to be decided so as to minimize
the total loss or demand.

Table IV. Integrated voltage and var optimization results minimizing loss
(substation voltage 123 V)

Load type Regulator
setting
(turns ratio)
Cap 1
setting
(kVar)
Cap 2
setting
(kVar)
Losses (W)
100% PQ 1.0438 270 180 64169.329
100% Z 1.0125 270 180 63038.1048
100% I 1.0125 0 0 78829.2535
50% PQ +
50% Z
1.0188 270 180 64570.0057


Table V. Integrated voltage and var optimization results minimizing loss
(substation voltage 125 V)

Load type Regulator
setting
(turns
ratio)
Cap 1
setting
(kVar)
Cap 2
setting
(kVar)
Losses (W)
100% PQ 1.025 270 180 62607.60
100% Z 1.0 180 180 62853.13
100% I 0.99375 0 0 77387.12

50% PQ +
50% Z
1.0 270 180 63405.86

Table VI. Integrated voltage and var optimization results minimizing
demand (substation voltage 125 V)

Load type Regulator
setting
(turns
ratio)
Cap 1
setting
(kVar)
Cap 2
setting
(kVar)
Demand (W)
100% PQ 1.025 270 180 1790607.66
100% Z 1.0188 0 0 1781618.03
100% I 0.9875 90 0 2002058.69
50% PQ +
50% Z
1.0 90 270 1787388.18

Table IV shows the IVVO results minimizing loss with the
substation voltage set to 123 V. The results depend on load
types, and sample combinations of load types are reported.
The first column lists the load types. Columns two, three and
four displays the regulator setting and capacitor bank
settings. The last column indicates the total losses under the
optimal solution. The regulator turns-ratio is shown. Since
the tap resolution is 0.1/16, a value of 1.0438 represents a
setting of tap position + 7 for the 100% PQ case.
The IVVO results minimizing loss with substation voltage
set to 125 V are shown in Table V.
The IVVO results minimizing total demand with substation
voltage set to 125 V are shown in Table VI. The demand
would be higher under other control actions. As an example,
the maximum demand for 100%Z case would be 1868907.95
W under settings of 1.0375 for regulator, 90 kVar for
capacitor 1, and 270 kVar for capacitor 2.
E. Harnessing More Recorded Data in the Future
Distribution Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA) system is not as compressive as transmission
SCADA, and usually covers rather limited data points at
selected locations. In certain cases, hourly load data at some
locations are recorded, but not transferred to control center in
real time.
To perform real time power flow, state estimation, and
control, consumer load needs to be known. Since only very
limited real time load data available, load allocation is
usually performed as follows. The monthly bill data for each
customer is obtained. The total power consumption at
substation is calculated based on real time measurements.
Then the consumer load is then calculated in proportion to
consumers monthly bill energy. The assumption is that a)
the same power factor for all load is usually assumed; b) the
same load shape is assumed for each consumer. As a result,
the load estimation is rather rough and the analysis result is
very approximate. Load may also be allocated according to
distribution transformer ratings.
In the future, with deployment of Advanced Metering
Infrastructure (AMI), load data of consumers, say the 15-
minute average value, will become available to utilities for
real time analysis and control purposes. Such real-time load
data may significantly increase the analysis accuracy and
control optimality. Future research may include the following
facets. First, it is necessary to understand the accuracy
improvements thanks to data collected from smart meters,
study the impacts of frequency of transferring load data to the
control center, say every 1, 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes, and
figure out the impacts of locations where load data are
collected. Second, we will evaluate the quantitative benefits
and costs of transferring real time load data to control center.
Third, we will study the requirements on accuracy of circuit
model such as distribution transformer impedance, and meter
accuracy for obtaining an acceptable estimate of the states of
the distribution grid.
In the future, application of developed methods to Owen
Electric system will be performed. One key step is to develop
interfaces for importing Owen electric network data saved in
MultiSpeak format and the load data.
VII. CONCLUSION
This paper presents study results of voltage regulation and
reactive power control and optimization in distribution
system. A Matlab program has been developed capable of
performing various types of studies. Results indicate that
load types greatly affect the results, which suggests that
understanding and benchmarking load characteristics in


8

utility service area are essential in successfully implementing
integrated voltage and var optimization schemes.
VIII. REFERENCES
[1] Roger C. Dugan, Reference Guide of The Open Distribution System
Simulator (OpenDSS), December 2009.
[2] J.J.Grainger and S.Civanlar, "Volt/var control on distribution systems
with lateral branches using shunt capacitors and voltage regulators, part
I: the overall problem", IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-104, No. 11, November 1985, pp3278-3283.
[3] Eduardo Perez, Vinod Simha and Bei Gou, "Initial Results in An
Approximate Optimal Capacitor Placement for Radial Distribution
Systems", IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting, Denver,
Colorado, USA, June 6-10, 2004.
[4] Abdelsalam A. Eajal, and M. E. El-Hawary, "Optimal Capacitor
Placement and Sizing in Unbalanced Distribution Systems With
Harmonics Consideration Using Particle Swarm Optimization", IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY
2010, pp. 1734-1741.
[5] Xiaoming Feng, William Peterson, Fang Yang, Gamini M.
Wickramasekara, and John Finney, "Implementation of Control Center
Based Voltage and Var Optimization in Distribution Management
System", IEEE Transmission and Distribution Conference and
Exposition, New Orleans, LA, USA, 19-22 April 2010.
[6] A. Brameller and J. K Denmead, Some improved methods of digital
network analysis, Proc. Znst. Elec. Eng., vol. 109A, pp. 109- 116, Feb.
1962.
[7] Bulletin 17240-101 B, System Planning Guide, US Department o
Agriculture, Rural Utilities service, 2000,
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/SupportDocuments/UEP_Bulletin_1724D
-101B.pdf.
[8] Yuan Liao, Generalized fault location methods for overhead electric
distribution systems, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 26,
no. 1, pp. 53-64. Jan. 2011.

IX. BIOGRAPHY
Wen Fan (wen.fan@uky.edu) currently studies at the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Kentucky. His
research interests are power system simulation, analysis and optimization,
and smart grid.

Yuan Liao (yliao@engr.uky.edu) is currently an Associate Professor with
the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of
Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. He was an R&D Consulting Engineer and
then Principal R&D Consulting Engineer with the ABB Corporate Research
Center, Raleigh, NC, USA. His research interests include protection, power
quality analysis, large-scale resource scheduling optimization and
EMS/SCADA design.

Jim See (jsee@owenelectric.com), VP of Technology, Owen Electric
Cooperative, Inc., Owenton, KY, USA.

Bobby Goins (bgoins@owenelectric.com), Manager of Engineering, Owen
Electric Cooperative, Inc., Owenton, KY, USA.

Chuck Gill (cgill@owenelectric.com), manager of ISIT, Owen Electric
Cooperative, Inc., Owenton, KY, USA.

James Petreshock (jpetreshock@owenelectric.com), Manager of System
Operations, Owen Electric Cooperative, Inc., Owenton, KY, USA.

James D. Bridges (jbridges@owenelectric.com), VP of Engineering (DSS),
Owen Electric Cooperative, Inc., Owenton, KY, USA.