ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND DEMAND RESPONSE

KCP&L also is using this new analysis approach in a unique way by partnering with its Energy Solutions (ES) department to integrate energy-efficiency and demand-response opportunities into the distribution-planning process. With detailed information about when a problematic circuit peaks, the peak duration, the magnitude of the peak and when the peak occurs, the ES group can target existing EE/DR programs to help relieve circuit problems and avoid capital costs. If one of the existing EE/DR programs does not seem to fit, the programs can be modified or new ones developed to address the specific circuit issue. Costs of addressing the issue with an EE/DR solution can then be compared against a traditional engineering solution to select the most economical plan.

Today, KCP&L's ES team is using three EE/DR programs: Energy Optimizer, MPower and CoolHomes. By taking Distribution Engineering's necessary hours per summer of curtailment and how many kilowatts of curtailment are needed, these three programs can be targeted at customers served by problematic circuits to reduce peak demand where it's needed most — to resolve the N-1 contingency scenarios that could potentially overload distribution ties.

The Energy Optimizer program is an air-conditioning cycling program by which KCP&L can reduce residential and small commercial air-conditioning load during peak summer days. The utility achieves this load reduction by sending a paging signal to a control device attached to the customer's air conditioner. The control device then turns the air conditioner off and on over a period of time, depending on the control and load-reduction strategy established by the utility.

MPower is a contracted load-curtailment program for large commercial and industrial customers that provide a capacity and energy payment to participating customers to curtail their usage during summer months when high electric demand occurs. Customers are eligible for participation in the program by providing a minimum load reduction of 200 kW during KCP&L's high-usage/high-cost periods.

The Cool Homes program will encourage residential customers to purchase and install energy-efficient air conditioning and heat pumps by providing financial incentives to offset a portion of the equipment's higher initial cost. The program's long-range goal is to encourage contractors and distributors to use energy efficiency as a marketing tool, thereby stocking and selling more efficient units and moving the entire central air-conditioner and heat-pump market toward greater energy efficiency.

LESSONS LEARNED

In just one district, the contingency coincidence analysis has already yielded a significant decrease in the number of capital-improvement projects required to meet the needs of the KCP&L distribution system.

After following the aforementioned analysis procedure, KCP&L deferred more than US$2 million by at least two years when the level of risk was shown as low or nonexistent. Eight different feeder peak violations were determined using non-coincident loads, and these were further analyzed on a daily basis showing there were only three remaining coincident violations. These three violations were insignificant enough to delay the capital improvements for at least two years, given the local growth rate. EE/DR programs were then deployed in the area to further defer the capital spend.

Engineers now better understand the behavior of specific circuits at a more granular level and can plan accordingly to meet the needs of this dynamic system. Armed with the hours at risk and kilowatts required to resolve a contingency scenario, the engineers can make more informed decisions, and energy-efficiency programs can be targeted to specific circuits to achieve the same effect as a new feeder tie.

In the end, KCP&L is spending capital dollars more efficiently and better utilizing the existing distribution infrastructure.

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Greg Elliott joined KCP&L in 2006 after graduating from Iowa State University with a BSEE degree. He is an EIT and has been leading the distribution infrastructure enhancements in support of the ongoing Kansas City downtown revitalization projects.
Gregory.Elliott@kcpl.com

Scott Grafelman is manager of Distribution Engineering with KCP&L. He has more than 27 years experience with KCP&L, having held a variety of distribution positions in energy management, customer service, field design, system operations and restoration, engineering and field construction. Grafelman earned a BS degree in thermal and environmental engineering from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale and an MBA in finance from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He is a registered professional engineer in Missouri.
Scott.Grafelman@kcpl.com

PLANNING FLOW CHART

The adjacent pseudo code is used to quickly identify possible coincident contingency scenarios that may be problematic. If varying granularity levels of data are available, sorting through entire power-distribution systems' worth of load data can be daunting.

By following this process, non-problematic scenarios can be eliminated quickly, narrowing down the search for hourly contingency switching overages. This program points the engineer toward those few scenarios that require further analysis.

The key to this kind of analysis is used to reduce very quickly the number of feeders that must be examined on an hourly basis. There would be an enormous amount of information to analyze with very little benefit otherwise. This step process to identify problematic circuits is vital for the engineer to discover the most useful information and use the capital dollars in an efficient manner.