Advances in Algorithms for Power System Static State Estimators: An Improved Solution for Bad Data Management and State Estimator Convergence

More than 50 years have passed since the first state estimator was introduced to power system operations, by Fred Schweppe, in 1969. Today, state estimation is the most important function in the energy management system (EMS) because the solution of the state estimator is the basis of other functions, including contingency analysis, security assessment, dynamitic security analysis, optimal power flow, and so on. Numerous research papers and reports have been published about trying to improve the performance of the power system state estimator since 1969. After the efforts of several decades by researchers and power engineers, today’s state estimator can be found in almost every power system control center worldwide. Power system state estimation was considered a mature area until the occurrence of a 14 August 2003 blackout in the northeastern United States. The state estimator at the control center crashed due to a single topology error in the system model, and the system operator could not take appropriate actions to avoid the occurrence of the blackout.