Improvements in Rural Load Management by Electric Cooperatives through an Effective SCADA System, and Distribution Connected Generation

In the rural regions of the Midwestern United States, agricultural and irrigation loads comprise a large portion of the daily loads encountered by rural electric cooperatives; especially during the growing seasons of Spring and Summer. An effective load monitoring & control is imperative to efficiently manage electrical energy demand & supply. This current research elaborates on applying an effective SCADA system as a load management solution to monitor and control agricultural and irrigation loads. Besides, monitoring and controlling loads during peak electrical energy demand hours, the distribution connected generation (solar, wind, CHP etc.) can also be implemented in contributing towards serving the peak demand. The distribution connected generation (DCG) can contribute to fill in for the demand and supply difference. Consequently, a realistic recovery in the lost energy sales during the days of load control is expected to be anywhere between 20% and 43% using both the SCADA system and DCG. This directly impacts the agriculture sector which is the most commonly load controlled sector.