Energy and Economic Impacts of the Application of CVR in Heavily Meshed Secondary Distribution Networks

This paper presents an economic model, based on a field-validated load model, for the assessment of impact of conservation voltage reduction (CVR) implemented continuously during both on-peak and off-peak hours. The model evaluates the impact on individual customers and the utility, taking into account the different billing structures, including service class, monthly rates, and reactive power billing. The model considers as well the impact of the utility's revenue decoupling mechanism. The hourly operation of three New York City networks of the Consolidated Edison Company of New York (ConEd) for an entire year has been simulated for the purpose of this study. The results presented for voltage reductions between 2.25% and 8% indicate that for individual customers, the larger the original bill, the greater the relative savings in percentage of the original bill. For the utility, the main advantages are the reduction in aggregated energy consumption and peak power demand with corresponding avoided investment and operating costs. The study and results presented are the first of their kind for a meshed power system. In addition, the economic model presented can be used for any utility system where distribution is separated from generation ownership.