Advanced Distribution Management can bridge the chasm on the road to grid modernization

Utilities are starting grid modernization programs by implementing advanced distribution network solutions that, in the aggregate, dramatically increase efficiency and prepare the grid for a resumed period of growth. Winning support for these Advanced Distribution Management solutions may be faster when utilities portray the solutions—completely accurately—in terms of the customer and community issues they address rather than in the engineering terms most network operators find compelling. Advanced DMS solutions permit network engineers to respond clearly and directly to customer-generated requirements. They can help utilities place the investment and maintenance costs of meeting those requirements in the context of other utility business applications. This paper examines how utilities are using advanced DMS to help to break down the walls between a utility's operational and business departments. Thus creating a utility increasingly fine-tuned to its customers by leveraging a detailed network model to optimize network operations, reliability, outage response, volt/var control, distribution automation, distributed generation, and microgrids.