ABSTRACT

Energy management is the process of monitoring, coordinating, and controlling the generation, transmission,

and distribution of electrical energy. The physical plant to be managed includes generating plants that produce

energy fed through transformers to the high-voltage transmission network (grid), interconnecting generating

plants and load centers. Transmission lines terminate at substations that perform switching, voltage

transformation, measurement, and control. Substations at load centers transform to subtransmission and

distribution levels. These lower-voltage circuits typically operate radially, i.e., no normally closed paths

between substations through subtransmission or distribution circuits. (Underground cable networks in large

cities are an exception.)

Since transmission systems provide negligible energy storage, supply and demand must be balanced by

either generation or load. Production is controlled by turbine governors at generating plants, and automatic

generation control is performed by control center computers remote from generating plants. Load

management, sometimes called demand-side management, extends remote supervision and control to

subtransmission and distribution circuits, including control of residential, commercial, and industrial loads.