620 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 46, NO.
2, MARCH/APRIL 2010
Distribution Feeder Voltage Regulation Control
W. H. Kersting, Life Fellow, IEEE
Abstract—Step voltage regulators are the workhorse of distri-
bution feeders for maintaining the voltage at every customer’s
meter to be within the ANSI standards. A step voltage regulator
can be viewed as a tap-changing autotransformer. This paper will
apply a model of the step voltage regulator. The IEEE 13 Node
Test Feeders will be used to demonstrate how the regulator is con-
trolled in order to maintain the desired voltage for full-, light-, and
future-load conditions. The coordination of step voltage regulators
with shunt capacitors will be included.
Index Terms—ANSI voltage standards, compensator settings,
IEEE Test Feeders, shunt capacitors, step voltage regulators.
I. I NTRODUCTION
E VERY CUSTOMER on a distribution feeder must be
supplied a voltage that is within the ANSI standards [1].
The ANSI standards give the distribution engineer a range
of “normal steady-state” voltages (Range A) and a range of
“emergency” steady-state voltages (Range B) to be supplied to
all customers. The two ranges are as follows:
1) Range A
a) nominal utilization voltage = 115 V;
b) maximum utilization voltage = 126 V;
c) minimum service voltage = 114 V;
d) minimum utilization voltage = 110 V;
2) Range B
a) nominal utilization voltage = 115 V;
b) maximum utilization voltage = 127 V;
c) minimum service voltage = 110 V;
d) minimum utilization voltage = 107 V.
As the load on the feeder changes, every customer’s voltage
will vary so that the ANSI standard may not be satisfied. The
regulation of the voltages requires some method to regulate the
voltages as the load changes. The two most common methods
are the application of switched shunt capacitors and step voltage
regulators. The step voltage regulators may be located in the
distribution substation or downstream from the substation. The
distribution planning engineer must have a means of analyzing
the feeder voltages in the present and into the future. A distri-
bution system power flow program can be used to determine
Paper 2009-REPC-005, presented at the 2009 IEEE Rural Electric Power
Conference, Fort Collins, CO, April 26–29, and approved for publication
in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by the Rural
Electric Power Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Man-
uscript submitted for review January 28, 2009 and released for publication
July 24, 2009. First published January 15, 2010; current version published
March 19, 2010.
The author is with Milsoft Utility Solutions, Las Cruces, NM 88011-0909
USA, and also with WH Power Consultants, Las Cruces, NM 88003 USA
(e-mail: bjkersting@zianet.com).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2010.2040060
0093-9994/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE
the location of the needed regulators and the control settings.
The power flow program must be capable of modeling both the
shunt capacitors and the step voltage regulators. The modeling
of step voltage regulators can be complex. It is critical that the
program is able to model the compensator circuit because this
is the control that determines when a tap change is necessary.
The compensator model will include the desired voltage to be
held within a specified bandwidth at the “regulation point” and
the R and X settings. The R and X settings model that line
impedance from the location of the regulator to the regulation
point. This paper will utilize a distribution power flow program
(Windmil [2]) to demonstrate how the locations of regulators
can be determined and then how the compensator settings are
determined.
II. ANSI VOLTAGE S TANDARD
The two critical voltages in the ANSI standard are the “max-
imum utilization voltage” and the “minimum service voltage.”
Both of these voltages are measured at the customer’s meter.
The “maximum utilization voltage” will be the metered voltage
at the customer that is closest to the substation. Typically, this
voltage is measured at the meter under a no-load condition. This
implies that there is no voltage drop through the transformer,
secondary, and service drop. The “minimum service voltage”
will occur when the customer has the maximum load on and
will include the transformer, secondary, and service-drop volt-
age drops.
In addition to the Range A and B requirements, the ANSI
standard recommends that the feeder should be operated so that
the voltage imbalance at three-phase loads will not exceed 3%.
Voltage imbalance is defined as
voltageimbalance
max. deviation from average voltage
= · 100%. (1)
average voltage
The task for the distribution engineer is to design and operate
the distribution feeder so that, under normal steady-state condi-
tions, the voltages at the meters will lie within Range A and the
voltage unbalance will not exceed 3%.
The ANSI voltage standards provide the basis for estab-
lishing guidelines for an acceptable voltage profile from the
substation to the most remote customer. An example of a typical
voltage profile is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 shows a typical voltage profile from the substation to
the most remote customer for both maximum- and minimum-
load conditions. Under maximum-load conditions, it is usually
assumed, on a 120-V base, that there will be a 1-V drop through
KERSTING: DISTRIBUTION FEEDER VOLTAGE REGULATION CONTROL 621

Fig. 2. Type-B step voltage regulator.

Fig. 1. Voltage profiles.

the service drop, a 2-V drop through the secondary, and a 3-V
drop through the transformer. With an acceptable low voltage
of 114 V at the customer’s meter, this requires that the input
voltage to the transformer should not be lower than 120 V
under the maximum-load condition. When running a power
flow study that models down to the primary of the distribution
transformers, all voltages must lie between 126 and 120 V.
Notice in Fig. 1 that a “regulation point” has been defined. The Fig. 3. Three-phase voltage regulator model.
idea here is that as load varies, the regulation point becomes
the pivot point for the profile. In other words, the voltage at IV. S TEP VOLTAGE R EGULATOR M ODEL
the regulation point will remain constant as the load varies. In The model for a step regulator is developed in [4]. For a
Fig. 1, it is shown that during minimum-load conditions, the single-phase type-B regulator, the relationships between the
output of the regulator has been reduced, and the voltage at the source voltage and current to the output voltage and current are
last customer is greater. This is the desired operating condition given by
that is the basis for determining the settings for the control
circuit (compensator) of the substation voltage regulator. Note 1
VL = · VS
also in Fig. 1 that there are laterals tapped off the main feeder aR
so that the current leaving the regulator will not be the same as IL = aR · IS (2)
the current arriving at the regulation point.
where
III. S TEP VOLTAGE R EGULATOR N2
aR = 1 ∓ .
A step voltage regulator consists of an autotransformer and a N1
load tap-changing mechanism. The voltage change is obtained In (2), the minus sign is when the regulator is in the raise
by changing taps on the series winding of the autotransformer. position, while the plus sign is when the regulator is in the lower
The position of the tap is controlled by the compensator position.
circuit. Standard step regulators contain a reversing switch The actual number of turns on the series and shunt windings
enabling a ±10% regulator range, usually in 16 steps up and is not known; however, each change in tap changes the voltage
16 steps down. This amounts to a 5/8% change/step or 0.75-V by 5/8% or 0.00626 per unit. Therefore, the effective regulator
change/step on a 120-V base. Step regulators can be connected ratio can be given by
in a type-A or type-B connection according to the ANSI/IEEE
C57.15-1986 standard [3]. The more common type-B connec- aR = 1 ∓ 0.00625 · Tap. (3)
tion is shown in Fig. 2.
Note that the input to the type-B step voltage regulator is In (2) and (3), the minus sign is when the regulator is in the
across the series and shunt windings. The type-A step voltage raise position, while the plus sign is when the regulator is in the
regulator would have the load side connected across the series lower position.
and shunt windings. In Fig. 2, when a change in taps is required, Single-phase regulators can be connected in wye, delta, and
the preventive autotransformer changes the number of turns on open delta for three-phase lines. For all of the connections, the
the series winding (N2 ). general three-phase model is shown in Fig. 3 [4].
622 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 46, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2010

Fig. 5. Voltage level and bandwidth.

order to make this happen, the per-unit R and X settings must

equal the per-unit equivalent line impedance from the regulator
Fig. 4. Compensator circuit. output to the regulation point. The compensator settings are
input in units of volts and are determined according to
In Fig. 3, if the regulators are connected in wye, the volt-
CT
ages will be the line-to-neutral voltages. If the regulators are Zcomp = Zline · volts (6)
connected in delta (open or closed), the voltages will be line to Npt
line. In all cases, the currents will be the line currents by phase.
where
The general equations for three regulators connected in
Zline equivalent line impedance in ohms;
grounded wye are
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ CT current transformer primary rating;
VAG aR_a 0 0 Vag Npt potential transformer ratio.
⎣ VBG ⎦ = ⎣ 0 aR_b 0 ⎦ · ⎣ Vbg ⎦ The potential transformer ratio is determined by
VCG 0 0 aR_c Vcg
V LNrated
Npt = . (7)
[V LG]ABC = [a] · [V LG]abc (4) 120
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ 1 0 0
⎤ ⎡ ⎤
IA aR_a Ia The primary rating of the current transformer (CTp ) is
⎣ IB ⎦ = ⎢
⎣ 0
1
aR_b 0 ⎥ ⎦ · ⎣ Ib ⎦ selected to be at least equal to the rated feeder current. For most
IC 0 0 1 Ic compensator controls, the secondary current (CTs ) is 0.2 A.
aR_c
The “voltage-level” setting is the voltage on a 120-V base
[IABC ] = [d] · [Iabc ]. (5) that will be held at the regulation point. To limit the number
of tap changes made as load changes a “bandwidth” is set so
Note in (4) and (5) that each regulator can have different tap that the taps are only changed when the relay voltage is outside
settings. of the bandwidth. This is shown in Fig. 5. The bandwidth is
two times the allowed deviation above or below the set voltage
V. C OMPENSATOR C IRCUIT level.
In Fig. 5, the voltage level has been set at 122 V with a 2-V
The changing of taps on a regulator is controlled by the bandwidth. Because each tap changes the voltage by 0.75 V, it
“line drop compensator.” A simplified circuit of an analog is possible (and not unusual) that two different tap settings can
compensator and how it is connected to the feeder through occur for the same load condition.
a potential transformer and a current transformer is shown The major concern now is on determining the value of the
in Fig. 4. line impedance that is to be set. There are many ideas on how
There are four settings that are required for the compensator to determine the impedance. A quick surfing of the Web found
circuit. Whether the compensator is analog or digital, the fol- three different approaches [5]–[7]. The method that will be used
lowing settings must be made: in this paper differs from that of the references. This method
1) compensator R and X settings; computes the equivalent impedance from the regulator to the
2) voltage level: the desired voltage to hold at the regulation regulation point under a maximum-load condition with no shunt
point; capacitors connected.
3) bandwidth: defines the allowed variance of the regulation The first decision that has to be made is to identify the feeder
point voltage centered on the desired voltage level; node that will be the reference point. Again, there are many
4) time delay: the time delay before a tap change is made ways of selecting this node. One approach that can be used for
when the voltage relay voltage is not within the band- a voltage regulator located in the substation is to use the “load
width. center” node. This would be a node on the system where one
The goal of the compensator circuit is such that the voltage half of the feeder load has been dropped off to the upstream lat-
across the compensator voltage relay will be a scale model of erals. Another method is to set the substation voltage to 126 V
the actual voltage at the regulation point. Another way of look- and then find the downstream node where the voltage has
ing at it is to have the per-unit voltage of the compensator volt- dropped to 120 V. This becomes a logical node to define as the
age relay equal to the per-unit voltage at the regulation point. In “regulation point.”
KERSTING: DISTRIBUTION FEEDER VOLTAGE REGULATION CONTROL 623

Fig. 6. IEEE 13 node test feeder.

With the regulation point identified, the R and X settings are Fig. 7. Phase-C voltage profile.
computed by
There is also a slight voltage rise on the line from 4 to 5.
For i = a, b, c Because the load at node 5 is just a phase-B load, the voltage
Vregi − Vreg_pti rise is caused by the imbalanced currents flowing on the line.
Zlinei = ohms (8) With node 4 selected as the regulation point, the equivalent
Iregi
line impedances per phase were computed using the source
where voltages, regulation point voltages, and source line currents
Vreg actual line-to-neutral voltage at the regulator; from the power flow run.
Vreg_pt actual line-to-neutral voltage at the regulation point; Define CT rating and PT ratio
Ireg actual line current leaving the regulator. 2400
With the potential transformer ratio and current transformer CTp := 700 Npt := Npt = 20.
120
ratings determined and the equivalent line impedance computed
for each phase, (8) is used to determine the R and X settings Define voltages and currents at 1.05 PU and no reg
in volts. ⎛ ⎞
2521.87 · ej·0
Vreg := ⎝ 2521.87 · e−j·120·deg ⎠
VI. IEEE 13 N ODE T EST F EEDER 2521.87 · ej·120·deg
⎛ ⎞
The IEEE 13 node test feeder [8] is modified to demonstrate 2347 · e−j·3.1·deg
how the compensator settings are determined. The one-line Vreg_pt := ⎝ 2361.2 · e−j·124.2·deg ⎠
diagram is shown in Fig. 6. 2261.6 · ej·115.2·deg
The IEEE 13 node test feeder was originally developed to ⎛ ⎞
test the convergence capabilities of different software programs. 537.5 · e−j·34.4·deg
The feeder is highly imbalanced and is a good test for conver- Ireg := ⎝ 633.9 · e−j·150.4·deg ⎠ .
gence. For this paper, the feeder is modified to balance the sys- 703.1 · ej·81.5·deg
tem better so that a straightforward application of the substation Compute equivalent line impedance per phase
voltage regulators can be demonstrated. The modifications are
as follows: i := 1, . . . , 3
1) line 4–12 changed to phases B–C; ⎛ ⎞
Vregi − Vreg_pti 0.1403 + 0.3823j
2) Transformer 6–7 changed to ungrounded wye–delta with Zlinei := Zline = ⎝ 0.0892 + 0.3686j ⎠ .
the same voltages, kilovoltampere rating, and impedance; Iregi
0.131 + 0.4481j
3) load at 7 converted to a delta–PQ;
4) load at 8 changed to delta–PQ; Compute average line impedance
5) load at 14 changed to phase-B wye–PQ;
6) load added to 5 of wye–PQ of 300 + j145.3 kVA. Zavg := mean(Zline ) Zavg = 0.1202 + 0.3997j.
The nominal voltage rating of the feeder is 4160 line-to-line V.
The regulation point was determined by setting the source line- Compute compensator R and X settings
to-neutral voltage at node 1 to 1.05 per unit (2401.8 V). The CTp
power flow program was run for a full load. All three-phase Zset := Zavg · Zset = 4.2 + 14j.
Npt
voltages dropped below 120 V at node 4. A profile for phase C
(the lowest) is shown in Fig. 7. Because of the load imbalance, the phase equivalent im-
The voltage profile shows that the phase-C voltages at nodes pedances are not the same. Because the regulator compensator
3, 4, and 5 are below the minimum primary transformer voltage. circuits are set with the same R and X values for each phase,
624 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 46, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2010

Fig. 8. Phase-C voltage profile with regulators.

Fig. 9. Voltage profile with regs and caps.
an average value of the equivalent line impedances is used to
compute the R and X used in the compensator circuit.
The next stop is to set the compensator R and X with the
desired voltage of 121 V and a bandwidth of 2 V.
The voltage profile for this case is shown in Fig. 8.
Note in Fig. 8 that the source voltage at node 1 has been set
to 120 V. The voltage at node 2 is the output voltage of the
regulator. For this case, the taps on the phase regulators were
found to be
phase A : 11
phase B : 12
phase C : 15.

It is first seen that the phase-C tap is almost to the maximum

position of 16. The profile also shows that the output voltage
of the regulator is well above the maximum desired voltage
of 126 V.
At this point, shunt capacitor banks are added to assist in the
voltage regulation. The power flow output for the case of no reg-
ulators shows that the reactive power supplied by the phase is
phase A : 765 kvar
phase B : 809 kvar
phase C : 1105 kvar.
With that much reactive power being supplied by the source,
shunt capacitor banks of approximately 800 kvar per phase can
be added to the system. After several power flow runs, shunt
capacitors were placed as
node 3 : 100 kvar per phases A, B, and C
node 4 : 600 kvar per phases A, B, and C
node 13 : 150 kvar on phase C.
With these capacitor banks installed, the regulator taps are
phase A : 5
phase B : 6
phase C : 7.
Fig. 10. Fifty percent of full load.
The voltage profile for phase C with the shunt capacitors
installed is shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 9 shows that with the regulator and the shunt capacitors,
all node voltages are within the desired limits. The next concern
is on the possible outcome when the load is reduced to its
daily minimum. For this example, it will be assumed that the
minimum load for the feeder is 50% of full load. The phase-C
voltage profile is shown in Fig. 10.
For this case, the reactive powers supplied by the source are
phase A : −361 kvar
phase B : −345 kvar
phase C : −368 kvar.
This indicates that approximately 300 kvar per phase should
be switched off during this minimum-load condition. The afore-
mentioned 300 kvar per phase is switched off at node 4 with the
resulting phase-C voltage profile shown in Fig. 11.
For this condition, the reactive powers supplied by the
source are
phase A : −59 kvar
phase B : −40 kvar
phase C : −59 kvar.
KERSTING: DISTRIBUTION FEEDER VOLTAGE REGULATION CONTROL
Fig. 11. Full load and 300 kvar switched off.
Fig. 12. 10% load growth.
Fig. 13. Growth of 10% with additional caps.
The voltage rise shown in Fig. 10 is a result of the leading
power factor operating condition for the feeder.
The final study is to look into the future. A 10% load growth
is assumed with the resulting voltage profile shown in Fig. 12
(see also Fig. 13).
It is noted that the output voltage of the regulator exceeds the
maximum allowed voltage of 126 V. Once again, this problem
can be corrected by installing additional shunt capacitors.
625
Fig. 14. Composite voltage profiles.
The reactive powers supplied by the source are
phase A : 97 kvar
phase B : 142 kvar
phase C : 308 kvar.
This paper indicates that 100 kvar per phase of shunt capaci-
tors can be added to the feeder. The node-4 capacitor bank will
be increased by 100 kvar per phase.
With the additional capacitors, all node voltages are within
the ANSI limits.
Even though the plots are busy, it is interesting to display
each of the profiles on one graph. Fig. 14 shows how well the
voltage regulation has held the desired voltage level at node 4
for all of the cases studied. Because all of these have only
plotted the phase-C voltages, it is seen that the pivot point lies
between nodes 3 and 4. This is a result of using an average
value of the equivalent impedance between the regulator and
the regulation point.
VII. S UMMARY
This paper has demonstrated how wye-connected step volt-
age regulators located in the substation can be set to hold a
desired voltage at the regulation point. The application of shunt
capacitors is included to demonstrate that the regulators and
capacitors work together to hold the desired voltage at the reg-
ulation point for full-, minimum-, and future-load conditions.
The methods demonstrated in this paper are used to regulate
the voltages on the IEEE 34-node test feeder [9].
R EFERENCES
[1] American National Standard for Electric Power—Systems and Equipment
Voltage Ratings (60) Hertz, ANSI C84.1-1995, 1996.
[2] Milsoft Utility Solutions, Inc., Product Documents. [Online]. Available:
http://www.milsoft.com/
[3] IEEE Standard Requirements, Terminology and Test Code for Step-Voltage
and Induction Regulators, ANSI/IEEE C57.15-1996, 1988.
626 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 46, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2010
[4] W. H. Kersting, Distribution System Modeling and Analysis. Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press, 2007.
[5] Voltage Regulators 225-10. [Online]. Available: http://www.cooperpower.
com/Library/Literature/section-asp?ProductLineID=17
[6] Setting the Control. [Online]. Available: http://beckwithelectric.com/
Instruction-Books/M-6200-IB-01MC2%20(7-08)%20Screen.pdf
[7] SEL-2431 Voltage Regulator Control. [Online]. Available: https://customer.
selinc.com/metadot/index.pl?id=5799&isa=Category&op=show
[8] IEEE Radial Test Feeders. [Online]. Available: http://ewh.ieee.org/
soc/pes/dsacom/testfeeders.html
[9] W. H. Kersting, “The modeling and analysis of step voltage regulators,” in
Proc. IEEE Power Syst. Conf. Expo., Seattle, WA, Mar. 2009, pp. 1–8.
W. H. Kersting (SM’64–F’89–LF’03) was born in
Santa Fe, NM. He received the B.S.E.E. degree from
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, and the
M.S.E.E. degree from Illinois Institute of Technol-
ogy, Chicago.
In 1962, he became a Faculty Member at New
Mexico State University, where he was a Professor of
electrical engineering and the Director of the Electric
Utility Management Program until his retirement in
2002. He is currently a Consultant for Milsoft Utility
Solutions, Las Cruces, NM, and also a Partner in WH
Power Consultants, Las Cruces.