Applying capacitors to maximize benefits of conservation voltage reduction

There are economic and reliability benefits for reducing peak loading of distribution feeders. Many cooperative and municipal utilities pay a demand charge based on peak usage, so there can also be an economic incentive to reduce peak demand. As experienced in some areas of the country, it is possible for the load to approach or exceed the total available generation. This leads to high prices on the electric power spot market, and it may lead to some customers experiencing outages due to a lack of generation. In some situations, conservation voltage reduction can be implemented to temporarily reduce the load demand on individual feeders. Lowering substation voltage for peak shaving can be done without compromising power quality if distribution lines are properly compensated with power factor correction and/or voltage regulation devices. This paper describes a methodology of using multiple distributed capacitor banks on feeders to achieve the flat voltage profile required for successful implementation of conservation voltage reduction.