A methodology to classify distribution load profiles

Information concerning consumer's consumption pattern in the deregulated power systems is of primary importance. While in the regulated environment such information was used for demand-side management and system planning in the deregulated environment also serves as a foundation for a "fair" settlement system for consumers without appropriate meters. In the paper a methodology for daily load profile determination is proposed. For that purpose use of hierarchical clustering method is suggested. The goal is to reduce a vast number of measured load profiles and to classify them into coherent and representative groups-typical load profiles (TLP). Results obtained demonstrate the ability of the suggested method to overcome problems concerning formation of TLP.