Voltage conservation using advanced metering infrastructure and substation centralized voltage control

Abstract

A voltage control and conservation (VCC) system is provided, which includes three subsystems, including an energy delivery (ED) system, an energy control (EC) system and an energy regulation (ER) system. The VCC system is configured to monitor energy usage at the ED system and determine one or more energy delivery parameters at the EC system. The EC system may then provide the one or more energy delivery parameters to the ER system to adjust the energy delivered to a plurality of users for maximum energy conservation.

1 - 38 . (canceled) 
     
     
         39 . An electric power control system for an electric power grid configured to supply electric power from a supply point to a plurality of consumption locations, the system comprising:
 a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor is located at a respective one of a plurality of distribution locations on the electric power grid at or between the supply point and at least one of the plurality of consumption locations, and wherein each sensor is configured to sense at least one component of the supplied electric power received at the respective distribution location and at least one of the plurality of sensors is configured to generate measurement data based on the sensed component;   a controller configured to receive the measurement data from each sensor of a subset of the plurality of sensors, wherein the subset includes more than one and fewer than all of the plurality of sensors for distribution locations receiving the supplied electric power, and to generate an energy delivery parameter based on the measurement data received from the subset; and   an adjusting device configured to adjust a component of the electric power supplied at the supply point based on the energy delivery parameter.   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the subset of sensors comprises the bellwether sensors of the plurality of sensors that have the worst case measured component of electric power. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the measured components of electric power comprises at least one of: a voltage; a current; and a phase. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the subset includes the sensors sensing the lowest level voltages. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the subset includes more than one and substantially fewer than all of the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the subset includes more than one and substantially fewer than all of the plurality of sensors for distribution locations receiving the supplied electric power. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the consumption locations are user locations and the at least one of the plurality of sensors configured to generate measurement data comprises at least one smart meter. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the subset includes about twenty sensors on the electric power grid. 
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 store historical component data that includes at least one of aggregated energy component data at a substation level, and electric power component data at a substation level;   determine energy usage at each of the plurality of sensors that are configured to generate measurement data;   compare the historical component data to the determined energy usage; and   determine energy savings attributable to the system based on the results of the comparison of the historical component data to the determined energy usage.   
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate an energy delivery parameter based on a comparison of the measurement data received from the subset to a controller target voltage band. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the energy delivery parameter is generated such that the electric power component remains within a target component band, the target component band being a lower band of a safe nominal operating range. 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein at least one other sensor of the plurality of sensors that is not included in the subset is further configured to send a respective reporting signal to the controller when the electric power component sensed by the sensor is determined to be outside of a respective sensor target component band. 
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 50 , wherein the controller is configured such that the at least one other sensor can be added to the subset. 
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 51 , wherein the controller is configured to add the at least one other sensor to the subset. 
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 49 , wherein the component is voltage and the safe nominal operating range is between about 114V and about 126V and the target component band is between about 114V and about 120V. 
     
     
         54 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the supply point is at a transformer at a substation. 
     
     
         55 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the sensors of the subset are selected based on predetermined criteria. 
     
     
         56 . The system of  claim 55 , wherein the predetermined criteria includes historical sensor data. 
     
     
         57 . The system of  claim 55 , wherein the voltage controller receives measurement data from each sensor of the subset at time intervals having a predetermined length between about 5 seconds and about 15 minutes. 
     
     
         58 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the voltage controller receives measurement data from a sensor in response to a request by the controller. 
     
     
         59 . A method for controlling electrical power supplied to a plurality of distribution locations located at or between a supply point and at least one consumption location, each of the plurality of distribution locations including at least one sensor configured to sense at least one component of the supplied electric power received at the respective distribution location and at least one of the plurality of sensors is configured generate measurement data based on the sensed component, the method comprising:
 receiving measurement data from a subset of the plurality of sensors, wherein the subset includes more than one and fewer than all of the plurality of sensors for distribution locations receiving the supplied electric power; and   adjusting a component of the electric power supplied at the supply point based on the measurement data received from the subset.   
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the subset of sensors comprises the bellwether sensors of the plurality of sensors that have the worst case measured component of electric power. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the subset includes the sensors sensing the lowest level voltages. 
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the subset includes more than one and substantially fewer than all of the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising receiving a reporting signal from at least one other sensor of the plurality of sensors that is not included in the subset when the voltage sensed by the other sensor is determined to be outside of a respective sensor target voltage band. 
     
     
         64 . A controller for an electric power grid configured to supply electric power from a supply point to a plurality of consumption locations including a plurality of sensors, wherein each sensor is located at a respective one of a plurality of distribution locations on the electric power grid at or between the supply point and at least one of the plurality of consumption locations, and wherein each sensor is configured to sense at least one component of the supplied electric power received at the respective distribution location and at least one of the plurality of sensors is configured to generate measurement data based on the sensed component, the controller comprising:
 at least one processor configured to:
 receive measurement data from a subset of the plurality of sensors, wherein the subset includes more than one and fewer than all of the plurality of sensors for distribution locations receiving the supplied electric power; and 
 adjust a component of the electric power supplied at the supply point based on the measurement data received from the subset. 
   
     
     
         65 . The controller of  claim 64 , wherein the subset of sensors comprises the bellwether sensors of the plurality of sensors that have the worst case measured component of electric power. 
     
     
         66 . The controller of  claim 64 , wherein the subset includes the sensors sensing the lowest level voltages. 
     
     
         67 . The controller of  claim 64 , wherein the subset includes more than one and substantially fewer than all of the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         68 . The controller of  claim 64 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a reporting signal from at least one other sensor of the plurality of sensors that is not included in the subset when the voltage sensed by the other sensor is determined to be outside of a respective sensor target voltage band.