Possibilities of demand side management with Smart Meters

Paper in proceeding, 2015

There are problems with congestion during peak electricity demand periods for today’s grid infrastructure. As the demand has been sharply increasing day by day, the power reserve, as it is designed today, may be gradually phased out. Demand side management (DSM) can then be necessary to keep balance between the demand and the supply. By using Smart Meters (SMs), the Distribution System Operator (DSO) can manage the demand side during peak load crisis and decrease the risk of blackouts. The SM may allow the DSO to switch loads in an area using a customer’s prioritize list, while excluding emergency service providers and critical customers from switching. Moreover, switching multiple SMs at a time might have impact on the Power Quality (PQ) of the grid. This paper presents results from field test on multiple SMs switching and investigated the impact of SMs switching on the PQ of the electricity grid.