Publications

Distribution Load Modeling - Survey of the Industry State, Current Practices and Future Needs

Peppanen, Jouni; Hernandez, Miguel; Deboever, Jeremiah; Rylander, Matthew; Reno, Matthew J.

This paper discusses the findings from an EPRI industry survey mapping the state, current practices, and future needs of distribution load modeling in the U.S. and internationally. The paper provides a benchmark for distribution utilities and a view of the current industry state and future needs for researchers and other readers. The survey found the parameters and measurements available and utilized for load modeling to vary widely between the utilities and data types. Loads were found to be largely modeled based on different load allocation methods. While distribution planning was found to focus on assessing peak load conditions, some utilities evaluate other time instances and/or explore time-series assessments. Simple grid edge and voltage sensitivity models were found common. The identified future needs include access for additional data, as well as methods to process and utilize the increasing data, handle masked load, and perform time-series load modeling.