A survey of the state of the art in distribution system reconfiguration for system loss reduction

Abstract

A survey of publications in the area of distribution system reconfiguration for loss reduction is presented. The prevailing world social, political, and economic climates dictate that every effort be made to render the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity as efficient as possible. Through the use of existing tie and sectionalizing switches, reconfiguration of the distribution system represents an attractive method of loss reduction as it can be implemented at minimal cost to the utility. Techniques of reconfiguration, ranging from the fundamental work of Merlin and Bach to the current state of the art, are outlined.