Results on harmonic and flicker control in Buenos Aires public distribution services

The public electric services in Buenos Aires metropolitan area are rendered by 3 private companies, called A, B and C in the text. The control is carried out by the Ente Nacional Regulador de la Electricidad (ENRE). The Instituto de Investigaciones Tecnologicas para Redes y Equipos Electricos (IITREE) of Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) collaborates in technical assistance. The disturbance-harmonics and flicker-Monitoring Programs started at the beginning of 1997, that is why, so far, an important amount of measurements have been collected. The levels of harmonic representative magnitudes, its behavior throughout the day and the year are analyzed. These levels are compared between the three Utilities in different years. The procedures used for the evaluation of penalties in harmonic and flicker normalized measurements are explained, showing then the transgression of the allowed levels and the unitary sums of the penalties.