This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TSG.2016.2591531, IEEE
Transactions on Smart Grid
1

Microgrids for Service Restoration to Critical

Load in a Resilient Distribution System
Yin Xu, Member, IEEE, Chen-Ching Liu, Fellow, IEEE, Kevin P. Schneider, Senior Member, IEEE,
Francis K. Tuffner, Member, IEEE, and Dan T. Ton
 tr
𝑉max Upper limit of transient voltage at the terminal of
Abstract—Microgrids can act as emergency sources to serve generators.
critical loads when utility power is unavailable. This paper pro- 𝐼𝑔tr (𝑡) Transient current output by generator 𝑔 at time 𝑡.
poses a resiliency-based methodology that uses microgrids to tr
𝐼max,𝑔 Upper limit of transient current output by generator
restore critical loads on distribution feeders after a major disas- 𝑔.
ter. Due to limited capacity of distributed generators (DGs) within
Notation for buses:
microgrids, dynamic performance of the DGs during the restora-
𝛀 Set of restored buses.
tion process becomes essential. In this paper, the stability of mi-
crogrids, limits on frequency deviation, and limits on transient 𝛀𝑢 Set of buses directly connected to bus 𝑢 (including
voltage and current of DGs are incorporated as constraints of the bus 𝑢), 𝛀𝑢 ⊆ 𝛀.
critical load restoration problem. The limits on the amount of 𝑃𝑢𝑠 Specified real power at bus 𝑢 for a given phase 𝑠,
generation resources within microgrids are also considered. By where 𝑠 ∈ {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}.
introducing the concepts of restoration tree and load group, res- 𝑄𝑢𝑠 Specified reactive power at bus 𝑢 for a given phase 𝑠.
toration of critical loads is transformed into a maximum coverage 𝑉̅𝑢𝑠 Complex voltage at bus 𝑢 for a given phase 𝑠.
𝑠𝑡
problem, which is a linear integer program (LIP). The restoration 𝑌𝑢𝑣 Nodal admittance matrix element corresponding to
paths and actions are determined for critical loads by solving the bus 𝑢 (phase 𝑠) and bus 𝑣 (phase 𝑡).
LIP. A 4-feeder, 1069-bus unbalanced test system with 4 mi- 𝑉𝑢 Voltage (magnitude) at bus 𝑢.
crogrids is utilized to demonstrate the effectiveness of the pro- 𝑉min Lower limit of bus voltages.
posed method. The method is applied to the distribution system in 𝑉max Upper limit of bus voltages.
Pullman, WA, resulting in a strategy that uses generators on the
Notation for lines:
Washington State University (WSU) campus to restore service to
𝑳 Set of lines that are in service.
the Hospital and City Hall in Pullman.
𝐼𝑙 Current flowing through line 𝑙.
Index Terms—Distributed generator (DG), distribution system, 𝐼max,𝑙 Upper limit of current on line 𝑙.
microgrid, resilience, resiliency, and service restoration. Notation for microgrids:
𝑴 Set of available microgrids.
I. NOMENCLATURE 𝑃𝑘 Active power output by microgrid 𝑘.
Notation for load zones: 𝑄𝑘 Reactive power output by microgrid 𝑘.
𝒁uni Universal set of load zones. 𝑃max,𝑘 Upper limit of real power output by microgrid 𝑘.
𝑐𝑖 Weighting factor of zone 𝑖, 𝑖 ∈ 𝒁uni . 𝑄max,𝑘 Upper limit of reactive power output by microgrid 𝑘.
𝑃𝑖 Amount of load (kW) at zone 𝑖, 𝑖 ∈ 𝒁uni . 𝑓𝑘s Steady-state frequency of microgrid 𝑘.
s
𝑡𝑖 Time duration (hours) in which zone 𝑖 is served by a 𝑓min Lower limit of frequency in a steady state.
s
microgrid, 𝑖 ∈ 𝒁uni . 𝑓max Upper limit of frequency in a steady state.
Notation for generators: 𝑓𝑘 (𝑡) Frequency of microgrid 𝑘 at time 𝑡.
tr
𝑮 Set of generators in service. 𝑓min Lower limit of frequency in a transient state.
tr
𝑉𝑔tr (𝑡) Transient voltage at the terminal of generator 𝑔 at 𝑓max Upper limit of frequency in a transient state.
time 𝑡. 𝑹𝑘 Set of load zones restored by microgrid 𝑘.
tr total Total amount of generation resources in microgrid 𝑘,
𝑉min Lower limit of transient voltage at the terminal of 𝐸𝑘
generators. measured by equivalent electric energy in kWh.
𝐸𝑘in Amount of energy (kWh) served to internal critical
loads of microgrid 𝑘.
This work was supported by Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Re- 𝐸𝑘ex Amount of energy (kWh) served to external loads by
liability, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL). microgrid 𝑘.
Y. Xu and C.-C. Liu are with the School of Electrical Engineering and 𝐸𝑘loss Energy loss (kWh) associated with microgrid 𝑘.
Computer Science, Washington State University (WSU), Pullman, WA 99164 Notation for load groups:
USA (e-mail: yxu2@eecs.wsu.edu, liu@eecs.wsu.edu).
K. P. Schneider and F. K. Tuffner are with the Pacific Northwest National
𝑮𝑘 Set of load groups corresponding to microgrid 𝑘.
Laboratory (PNNL) located at the Battelle Seattle Research Center in Seattle, 𝑮uni Universal set of load groups, 𝑮uni = ⋃𝑘∈𝑴 𝑮𝑘 .
Washington. (e-mail: kevin.schneider@pnnl.gov, francis.tuffner@pnnl.gov). 𝒈𝑗 Load group 𝑗, 𝒈𝑗 ⊆ 𝒁uni and 𝒈𝑗 ∈ 𝑮uni .
D. T. Ton is with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity
𝑦𝑗 Status of load group 𝑗: if load group 𝑗 is selected,
Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), Washington, DC 20585 USA (e-mail:
dan.ton@hq.doe.gov). 𝑦𝑗 = 1; otherwise, 𝑦𝑗 = 0.

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Transactions on Smart Grid
𝑐sum,𝑗 Total weighting factor of load zones in load group 𝑗.
𝑃sum,𝑗 Total amount of load (kW) at load zones in load
group 𝑗.
𝜏𝑗 Time duration (hours) in which load zones in load
group 𝑗 are served by the corresponding microgrid if
load group 𝑗 is selected.
Notation associated with switching operations:
m
𝑡swi Mean time to operate a manual switch.
r
𝑡swi Mean time to operate a remote-controlled switch
(RCS).
𝑡int Lower limit on the length of time interval between
two consecutive restorative actions.
𝑁fc Number of field crews.
𝑺m fi Set of manual switches adjacent to faulted zones.
𝑺rfi Set of RCSs adjacent to faulted zones.
𝑺mrpi Set of manual switches for restoration path isolation.
r
𝑺rpi Set of RCSs for restoration path isolation.
𝑺msr,𝑗 Set of manual switches for restorative actions of load
group 𝑗.
𝑺rsr,𝑗 Set of RCSs for restorative actions of load group 𝑗.
ceil(⋅) Function that rounds the input number to the nearest
integer greater than or equal to that number.
II. INTRODUCTION
R ESILIENCY against major disasters, such as major hur-
ricanes or earthquakes, is considered by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Energy (DOE) as a most essential characteristic of the
future smart distribution systems [1]. According to Presidential
Policy Directive 21 [2], resiliency is “the ability to prepare for
and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover
rapidly from disruptions.” DOE highlighted five R&D needs
for resilient distribution systems [3], including developing
resilience metrics, enhancing system design, improvement of
preparedness and mitigation measures, improving system re-
sponse and recovery, and analysis and management of inter-
dependencies. This paper is concerned with the enhancement of
response and recovery, specifically, the utilization of mi-
crogrids to restore critical loads on the distribution feeders after
a major disaster. Here, critical loads refer to those necessary for
maintaining basic societal functions, such as hospitals and
street lighting. Since power generation resources can be limited
after a major disaster, they should serve critical loads as a pri-
ority.
A major issue on utilization of microgrids for service resto-
ration is that distributed generators (DGs) within a microgrid
have relatively small generation capacity. As a result, their
ability to absorb shocks and maintain system stability is not as
good as that of large generators in large scale power systems.
Under normal operating conditions, changes in load will not
cause significant deviations in frequency, voltage, and current.
However, during load starting or energization of dead sections,
the deviations can be significant, causing protective relays to
trip the DGs. Such undesirable events can lead to a failure in
implementation of a restoration plan. Therefore, dynamic per-
formance of the DGs should be considered in the design of
restoration schemes.
After a major disaster, generation resources within mi-
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2
crogrids, such as fuels for generators and electric energy in
storage devices, can be limited and hard to get supplemented. A
practical service restoration plan should also take into account
the scarcity of generation resources.
Studies on distribution system service restoration include the
development of reconfiguration algorithms, optimal energizing
strategies, and approaches to enhancement of restoration ca-
pability [4]-[10]. Some recent studies have considered utiliza-
tion of DGs, energy storages, electric vehicles (EVs), and mi-
crogrids for service restoration [11]-[15]. In [11], a multi-stage
restoration procedure is proposed to maximize the amount of
load restored by DGs. The upper limit on the amount of load
that can be picked up by a DG at the same time is a dynamic
constraint of the DG. The limits on frequency deviation are also
considered. In [12], a decentralized multi-agent system (MAS)
is proposed to restore interrupted loads using DGs and EVs.
The impact of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) facility on service resto-
ration is investigated. In the authors' prior work [15], a
graph-theoretic restoration algorithm is designed to find the
optimal post-outage network configuration for distribution
systems with microgrids. It is shown that microgrids improve
the restoration capability of a distribution system. A method for
enhancement of restoration capability by adding re-
mote-controlled switches (RCSs) is proposed [16].
Existing restoration strategies are aimed at improving the
reliability of distribution systems. They are designed based on a
set of pre-specified fault scenarios, usually faults involving a
single section of the distribution feeder. However, the effects of
a major disaster on a distribution system are unpredictable. It
can be much more difficult to restore interrupted loads from a
catastrophic outage caused by a major disaster relative to a
typical outage caused by a tree contact or a car accident. Mul-
tiple faults, a large number of interrupted customers, lack of
power sources, and weak transmission/distribution networks
are not uncommon in a catastrophic outage [17]. Existing
methods and tools do not take into account these extreme
events.
A resiliency-based service restoration method is proposed in
this paper, which seeks to use microgrids to restore critical
loads on the distribution feeders when the utility power is un-
available. The critical load restoration problem is modeled as a
constrained multi-objective optimization problem. The objec-
tives include maximizing the number of critical loads to be
restored, weighted by their priority levels, and minimizing the
amount of non-critical load that has to be energized. Dynamic,
operational, and topological constraints are considered. Based
on the concepts of restoration tree and load group, restoration of
the critical load is transformed into a maximum coverage
problem. A set of critical loads that can be restored is deter-
mined by solving the maximum coverage problem. A unique
restoration path is then identified for each critical load in the set.
Finally, restorative actions, i.e., switching operations, to pick
up critical loads are determined. Compared with the
state-of-the-art, the contributions of the proposed method are:
1) It is able to deal with multiple-fault scenarios, which is
the case of major outages caused by major disasters.
2) It is aimed at restoring critical loads that are necessary
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for basic societal needs. Priority levels of critical loads feeders weighted by the priority. Dynamic, generation-resource,
are considered. operational, and topological constraints are considered. The
3) The stability of microgrids and dynamic performance of critical load restoration problem is formulated as follows.
DGs during the restoration process are incorporated. A. Objective
Dynamic simulations are performed to evaluate the
feasibility of restoration schemes.  Maximizing the cumulative service time of microgrids
to loads on the distribution feeders weighted by their
4) Limits on the amount of available generation resources
priority, i.e.,
within microgrids are considered.
Some recent studies [13], [15] also use microgrids for service max ∑ 𝑡𝑖 𝑐𝑖 (1)
restoration. In [13], a black-start restoration procedure is pro- 𝑖∈𝒁uni
posed, which uses micro-sources to energize load within a In general, the weighting factor should be greater than or
microgrid when a blackout occurs. In contrast, this paper is equal to zero, i.e., 𝑐𝑖 ≥ 0. To ensure that the limited capacity of
focused on using the available generation capacity of a mi- DGs and generation resources are first used to serve critical
crogrid to serve critical load outside the microgrid. The authors’ loads, the weighting factor of a critical load zone should be
prior work [15] explores the feasibility of using microgrids to sufficiently greater than that of a non-critical one. For example,
support the local distribution system. It considers only sin- one can let 𝑐𝑖 ≥ 1 and 𝑐𝑖 ≤ 0.05 for critical and non-critical
gle-fault scenarios. Microgrids are modeled as a voltage source load zones, respectively. Sometimes, using microgrids to serve
non-critical loads on distribution feeders may be too costly
and power flow calculations are performed to evaluate restora-
from the utility viewpoint, since DGs within microgrids may
tion strategies. In this paper, the authors extend their work to
not belong to the utility. In this case, let 𝑐𝑖 < 0 to avoid unde-
multiple-fault scenarios. Dynamic characteristics of DGs and
sired energization of non-critical loads. By allowing the
limits on generation resources are incorporated. weighting factors to be assigned positive to negative values,
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section more flexibility is provided.
III formulates the critical load restoration problem. Section IV
describes the proposed method. In Section V, numerical simu- B. Constraints
lation results for a 1069-bus test system are presented. Section 1) Dynamic Constraints: Assume that the restoration process
VI describes the application of the proposed method to a real starts at time 𝑡 = 0 and the system reaches a steady state at time
distribution system. The conclusion is given in Section VII. 𝑡 = 𝑇 > 0 (if it is stable).
 Each microgrid must be stable during the restoration
III. PROBLEM FORMULATION process. That is, after the restorative actions are per-
formed, the microgrid should reach a steady state with
A major disaster, such as an earthquake, can damage trans-
an acceptable frequency. Limits on the steady-state
mission and/or distribution lines serving substations in a region.
As a result, the electric power from the transmission or distri- frequency are defined by
s
bution system cannot reach the loads in the region. However, 𝑓min ≤ 𝑓𝑘s ≤ 𝑓max s
,𝑘∈𝑴 (2)
s s
local generators in the regional distribution system, such as In this paper, 𝑓min = 59.5 Hz and 𝑓max = 60.5 Hz.
DGs in a microgrid, may be able to serve the critical loads on  During the restoration process, the frequency of each
the distribution feeders by reconfiguration of the distribution microgrid should be within an acceptable range, i.e.,
tr tr
lines that survive the extreme event. 𝑓min ≤ 𝑓𝑘 (𝑡) ≤ 𝑓max , 𝑘 ∈ 𝑴, 𝑡 ∈ [0, 𝑇] (3)
tr
Assume that, after a major disaster, faulted zones are isolated In this paper, the nominal frequency is 60 Hz, 𝑓min = 54
tr
and microgrids are operated in an islanded mode. As a result, Hz, and 𝑓max = 62 Hz.
interrupted islands are formed. An interrupted island is a con-  The transient voltage at the terminal of generators
nected portion of a distribution feeder that has no connection should not exceed the preset limits, i.e.,
tr
(except open switches) to other portions of the system and has 𝑉min ≤ 𝑉𝑔tr (𝑡) ≤ 𝑉max tr
, 𝑔 ∈ 𝑮, 𝑡 ∈ [0, 𝑇] (4)
no power source within it. Microgrids and interrupted islands tr tr
In this paper, 𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 0.9 p.u. and 𝑉max = 1.1 p.u.
are linked by tie switches or microgrid switches. A microgrid  The transient current output by a generator should not
would first serve its own critical loads. If the microgrid has exceed the preset limits, i.e.,
spare power capacity and generation resources, it becomes an 𝐼𝑔tr (𝑡) ≤ 𝐼max,𝑔
tr
, 𝑔 ∈ 𝑮, 𝑡 ∈ [0, 𝑇] (5)
available resource for service restoration of critical loads on the tr
In this paper, 𝐼max,𝑔 is 1.1 times of the nominal current.
distribution feeders.
A weighting factor is assigned to each load zone to represent 2) Generation-Resource Constraints:
the priority level. Regard a load zone with/without critical loads  The amount of energy that a microgrid can provide to
as a critical/non-critical load zone, which is indicated by a external loads is limited, i.e.,
large/small value of the weighting factor. Due to the scarcity of ∑𝑖∈𝑹𝑘 𝑡𝑖 𝑃𝑖 ≤ 𝐸𝑘ex , 𝑘 ∈ 𝑴 (6)
DG power capacity and generation resources within microgrids The left-hand side of (6) is the total amount of energy served
after a major disaster, microgrids should first be used to serve to external (critical and non-critical) loads by microgrid 𝑘. On
critical loads rather than non-critical ones. With limited gener- the right-hand side, 𝐸𝑘ex = 𝐸𝑘total − 𝐸𝑘in − 𝐸𝑘loss is the upper
ation resource, a microgrid can only serve the loads restored by limit on the amount of energy that microgrid 𝑘 can provide to
it for a limited period of time. The objective is to maximize the its external loads. The total amount of energy, 𝐸𝑘total , depends
cumulative service time of microgrids to loads on distribution on the amount of generation resources within microgrid 𝑘 ,

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Transactions on Smart Grid
including fuel for generators, such as diesel and natural gas, and
electric energy stored in storage devices. 𝐸𝑘in is the amount of
energy served to internal critical loads of microgrid 𝑘. 𝐸𝑘loss is
the energy loss associated with microgrid 𝑘 , which can be
derived from power flow calculations. For convenience, these
energy terms are all measured by equivalent electric energy in
kWh. The conversion rate from the amount of fuel to electric
energy varies with machines and should be determined case by
case. As an example, for the diesel generator on Washington
State University (WSU) campus, generating 1-kWh electric
energy consumes about 0.086 gallons of diesel.
3) Operational Constraints:
 Unbalanced three-phase power flow equations [18] must
be satisfied.
𝑃𝑢𝑠 − 𝑗𝑄𝑢𝑠 = (𝑉̅𝑢𝑠 )∗ ∑ ∑ 𝑌𝑢𝑣 𝑠𝑡 ̅ 𝑡
𝑉𝑣 ,
𝑣∈𝛀𝑢 𝑡 (7)
𝑢 ∈ 𝛀, 𝑠, 𝑡 ∈ {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}
 Steady-state bus voltages should be maintained within
acceptable operating limits.
𝑉min ≤ 𝑉𝑢 ≤ 𝑉max , 𝑢 ∈ 𝛀 (8)
In this paper, 𝑉min = 0.95 p.u. and 𝑉max = 1.05 p.u.
 Steady-state line currents should not exceed their limits.
𝐼𝑙 ≤ 𝐼max,𝑙 , 𝑙 ∈ 𝑳 (9)
 The steady-state output power of each microgrid should
not exceed the maximum amount of power that it is able
to provide, i.e., the total generation capacity of DGs
minus the amount of critical load within the microgrid.
𝑃𝑘 ≤ 𝑃max,𝑘
{ ,𝑘∈𝑴 (10)
𝑄𝑘 ≤ 𝑄max,𝑘
4) Topological Constraint:
 A radial network structure should be maintained, i.e., a
critical load is served by only one microgrid through one
path and the paths for different critical loads do not
overlap. Maintaining a radial structure helps to simplify
some operational issues, such as synchronization and
load sharing among microgrids. Moreover, in a radial
network, the relay settings can be easily adjusted to
protect the system from potential subsequent faults.
IV. THE PROPOSED METHOD
In this section, a graph-theoretic algorithm for the critical
load restoration problem is proposed. Subsection IV-A intro-
duces the overall procedure to generate the restoration strategy,
which consists of four steps. Subsections IV-B to IV-E illus-
trate the four steps in detail, respectively. Subsection IV-F
discusses time associated with fault management activities.
Subsection IV-G describes the software implementation of the
proposed method.
A. Critical Load Restoration Procedure
A four-step procedure is proposed to determine the critical
load restoration strategy: 1) construct restoration trees, 2) form
load groups, 3) formulate and solve the critical load restoration
problem as a maximum coverage problem, and 4) determine
restorative actions.
The first step identifies the paths from microgrids to critical
loads. For each “microgrid – critical load zone” pair, a unique
path is determined, called a restoration path, or there is no
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feasible path between them. All paths that start from a mi-
crogrid form a graph-theoretic tree rooted at the microgrid,
referred to as a restoration tree. The number of restoration trees
equals that of microgrids.
The second step is aimed at forming load groups. A load
group is a subset of load zones that can be restored together as a
group by a microgrid through their restoration paths. For each
microgrid, a set of load groups can be determined from its
restoration tree. If a load zone belongs to a load group, it is
covered by the load group.
The third step formulates the critical load restoration prob-
lem as a maximum coverage problem. By solving the maxi-
mum coverage problem, the set of critical load zones restored
and the set of load groups covering these critical load zones are
determined. The corresponding restoration paths are identified
from the restoration trees.
The last step determines the restorative actions, i.e., switch-
ing operations, to restore the critical loads. Dynamic simula-
tions are performed to evaluate the technical feasibility of the
actions.
B. Construct Restoration Trees
Model the distribution system as an undirected graph 𝐺 =
(𝑽, 𝑬), where 𝑽 and 𝑬 are the set of nodes and arcs, respec-
tively [15]. Nodes in 𝑽 represent load zones and microgrids,
while arcs in 𝑬 represent switches. Furthermore, a node rep-
resenting a load zone or microgrid is called a load node or
source node, respectively. Particularly, a node representing a
critical load zone is called a critical load node. A weight 𝑤 is
set for each load node, whose value equals the amount of load
at the corresponding load zone.
Define the weight of a path as the total amount of load on the
path. For a given “microgrid – critical load zone” pair, the
restoration path between the corresponding source and critical
load nodes is defined as any path whose weight is minimum
among all paths between them. The modified Dijkstra’s algo-
rithm [17] is used to determine the restoration paths from a
given microgrid to all critical load zones. Validate the restora-
tion paths by power flow calculations and dynamic simulations
and remove unfeasible ones. Then a feasible restoration tree is
found.
The pseudo code for the restoration tree construction algo-
rithm is shown below. It returns the restoration tree of a given
source node (microgrid), denoted by 𝑠. For a node 𝑣 ∈ 𝑽, the
attribute 𝑣. 𝑑 is an upper bound on the amount of load on the
restoration path from 𝑠 to 𝑣. When a restoration path is found,
𝑣. 𝑑 equals the amount of load on the restoration path. The
attribute 𝑣. 𝜋 is the predecessor of 𝑣. A min-priority queue 𝑸 is
used to manage the nodes, keyed by the 𝑑 values. Nodes that
have not been explored by the algorithm are stored in 𝑸. Here,
exploring a node means discovering its neighboring nodes and
updating their attributes. Function EXTRACT-MIN (𝑸) extracts
and removes the node with the minimum value of 𝑑 from 𝑸.
The graph 𝑇 = (𝑽𝑡 , 𝑬𝑡 ) represents the restoration tree. 𝑽𝑡 and
𝑬𝑡 are its node set and arc set, respectively.
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Algorithm: Construct Restoration Tree for a Microgrid Note that the algorithm returns only one restoration tree for
⊳ Initialization each microgrid. The uniqueness of the restoration tree is
1 for each node 𝑣 ∈ 𝑽 guaranteed by the restoration path search process in Lines 8-19,
2 𝑣. 𝑑 ← ∞ which is based on Dijkstra’s algorithm. Dijkstra’s algorithm
3 𝑣. 𝜋 ← 𝑁𝑈𝐿𝐿 identifies a unique path, which is the shortest path, from the
4 end for source to each node [19].
5 𝑠. 𝑑 ← 0 The feasibility of each restoration path is evaluated by power
6 𝑸←𝑽 flow calculation and dynamic simulation with GridLAB-D [20]
7 𝑪 ← Set of critical load nodes (Line 23). Power flow is calculated with load zones that are not
⊳ Identify restoration paths on the restoration path disconnected. Operational constraints,
8 while 𝑸 ≠ ∅ && 𝑪 ≠ ∅
i.e., (7)-(10), are examined. In the dynamic simulation, load
9 𝑢 ← EXTRACT-MIN (𝑸)
zones on the restoration path are picked up one by one with a
10 for each node 𝑣 adjacent to 𝑢
⊳ Relaxation operation preset time interval, say one minute, between two consecutive
11 if 𝑣. 𝑑 > 𝑢. 𝑑 + 𝑤(𝑣) restorative actions, which allows the dynamics induced by an
12 𝑣. 𝑑 ← 𝑢. 𝑑 + 𝑤(𝑣) action to damp out before the next action is performed. Stability
13 𝑣. 𝜋 ← 𝑢 of microgrids and other dynamic constraints, i.e., (2)-(5), are
14 end if examined. If all constraints in Section III-B are satisfied, nodes
15 end for and arcs on the restoration path are added to the node set and
16 if 𝑢 ∈ 𝑪 arc set of the restoration tree, respectively (Lines 24-31). In-
17 𝑪 ← 𝑪 − {𝑢} feasible restoration paths will not be included in the restoration
18 end if tree.
19 end while
In order to reduce the number of power flow calculations and
⊳ Construct restoration tree
20 𝑽𝑡 ← {𝑠} dynamic simulations, the program will first check if the total
21 𝑬𝑡 ← ∅ amount of load on the restoration path exceeds the maximum
22 for each critical load node 𝑣 ∉ 𝑪 power that can be provided by the corresponding microgrid. If
23 Evaluate the feasibility of the restoration path from 𝑠 to yes, the restoration path is considered infeasible without per-
𝑣 by performing a power flow calculation and a dy- forming a power flow calculation or a dynamic simulation;
namic simulation otherwise, a power flow calculation will be performed. If any of
24 if the restoration path from 𝑠 to 𝑣 is feasible the operational constraints is violated, the restoration path is
⊳ Add the nodes and arcs on the restoration path determined to be infeasible without performing a dynamic
to 𝑽𝑡 and 𝑬𝑡 , respectively. simulation; otherwise, a dynamic simulation will be conducted
25 𝑢←𝑣 to examine the dynamic constraints.
26 while 𝑢 ∉ 𝑽𝑡
27 𝑽𝑡 ← 𝑽𝑡 ∪ {𝑢} C. Form Load Groups
28 𝑬𝑡 ← 𝑬𝑡 ∪ {(𝑢. 𝜋, 𝑢)}
Given a microgrid, a set of load groups can be found by ex-
29 𝑢 ← 𝑢. 𝜋
30 end while
ploring all possible combinations of critical load zones on its
31 end if restoration tree. For each combination, a load group is formed,
32 end for which consists of load zones on the restoration paths from the
33 𝑇 ← (𝑽𝑡 , 𝑬𝑡 ) microgrid to critical load zones in the combination. The feasi-
bility of load groups with two or more critical load zones will
Lines 1-5 initialize attributes of nodes. The predecessor of be evaluated by power flow calculations and dynamic simula-
nodes are set to 𝑁𝑈𝐿𝐿 (Line 3). The 𝑑 value of node 𝑠 is set to tions. Infeasible load groups are removed from the set.
0 (Line 5) while that of other nodes are set to infinity (Line 2). For each feasible load group, indexed by 𝑗, the microgrid
Line 6 inserts all nodes into 𝑸. A universal set of critical load service time 𝜏𝑗 is calculated. Suppose that load group 𝑗 is as-
nodes, i.e., 𝑪, is defined in Line 7. The while loop of Lines 8-19 sociated with microgrid 𝑘. Then, 𝜏𝑗 = 𝐸𝑘ex /𝑃sum,𝑗 .
searches for the restoration paths from 𝑠 to critical load nodes.
D. Maximum Coverage Problem Formulation
In each iteration, the node with minimum 𝑑 value, denoted by
𝑢, is extracted from 𝑸 (Line 9). Node 𝑢 will be explored in this A load group indicates a feasible restoration scheme. Sup-
iteration and removed from 𝑸. The technique of relaxation [19] pose load group 𝑗 corresponds to microgrid 𝑘 and covers crit-
is applied to nodes adjacent to 𝑢 (Lines 10-15). If 𝑢 is a critical ical load zones 𝑖1 , 𝑖2 , … , 𝑖𝑝 (𝑝 ≥ 1). Then zones 𝑖1 , 𝑖2 , … , 𝑖𝑝 can
load node, it is removed from 𝑪 (Lines 16-18). It means that the be restored by microgrid 𝑘 through their restoration paths
restoration path from 𝑠 to 𝑢 is found. The search ends when without violating any constraint.
one of the two conditions is met: 𝑪 = ∅ (the restoration paths Select a set of disjoint load groups. Any two distinct load
from 𝑠 to all critical load nodes are found) or 𝑸 = ∅ (all nodes groups in the set correspond to different microgrids. Then the
connected to 𝑠, directly or indirectly, have been explored). In critical load zones covered by the selected load groups can be
the latter case, 𝑪 may not be empty, which indicates that no restored without violating any constraint. Therefore, the critical
path exists between 𝑠 and critical load nodes remaining in 𝑪. load restoration problem can be formulated as a maximum
Lines 20-33 form the restoration tree rooted at 𝑠. coverage problem as follows:

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Transactions on Smart Grid
Objective:
max ∑ 𝑦𝑗 𝜏𝑗 𝑐sum,𝑗
𝑗:𝒈𝑗 ∈𝑮uni
Subject to
1) For each 𝑗 in the set {𝑗: 𝒈𝑗 ∈ 𝑮uni }, 𝑦𝑗 ∈ {0,1}
2) No more than one load group associated with the same
microgrid is selected, i.e.,
∑ 𝑦𝑗 ≤ 1, 𝑘∈𝑴
𝑗:𝒈𝑗 ∈𝑮𝑘
3) No more than one load group including the same load
zone is selected, i.e.,
∑ 𝑦𝑗 ≤ 1, 𝑖 ∈ 𝒁uni
𝑗:𝑖∈𝒈𝑗
The solution of the maximum coverage problem satisfies all
operational and dynamic constraints, because the feasibility of
load groups have been validated by power flow calculations
and dynamic simulations. The generation-resource constraint is
satisfied since 𝜏𝑗 is calculated based on the available generation
resource and amount of load restored. The radiality constraint is
also met for two reasons: 1) the selected load groups are disjoint;
2) for a selected load group, the restoration paths of critical load
zones within it form a graph-theoretic tree, which contains no
cycle.
The maximum coverage problem is a linear integer program
(LIP). A number of tools are available to solve LIPs. In this
paper, the MATLAB Mix-Integer Linear Programming (MILP)
Solver intlinprog [21] is chosen. The solver finds the min-
imum of MILP problems with equality and inequality con-
straints.
E. Determine Restorative Actions
By solving the maximum coverage problem, a set of critical
load zones that can be restored and the corresponding restora-
tion paths are determined. For each restoration path, switches
with precisely one end connected to it will be opened to isolate
the restoration path from the rest of the distribution network.
Then the corresponding microgrid will energize load zones on
the restoration path in several actions.
When the restorative actions are to be determined, a tradeoff
between high efficiency and good dynamic performance needs
to be made. Picking up loads in smaller groups, e.g., zone by
zone, avoids significant transients in frequency, voltage, and
current, but needs longer implementation time. In contrast,
restoring loads by larger groups, e.g., all zones at a time, re-
duces the number of restorative actions, but may lead to worse
dynamic performance and instability.
In this paper, a greedy strategy is used to determine the re-
storative actions for each microgrid. A microgrid will pick up
the maximum number of load zones in each action, which
should not violate any dynamic constraint, until all load zones
on the corresponding restoration paths are restored.
F. Time Associated with Fault Management Activities
A key issue in service restoration to critical loads following
an extended outage is time. Fault location, isolation, and ser-
vice restoration require various fault management activities.
Field crews search for faulted locations along distribution
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6
feeders. Switches are operated manually by field crews or re-
motely by system operators to isolate faulted zones and restore
(11) interrupted loads. All of these activities take time.
The first step is fault location. Field crews search along in-
terrupted feeders and report fault locations to the system oper-
ator. Multiple field crews can be sent out if there are multiple
faults. The search time depends on the length of feeders and the
road and traffic conditions. According to [22], using data from
fault indicators and smart meters can narrow down the fault
(12)
search area and provide a list of most-credible fault locations,
and hence accelerate the fault search process.
The second step is fault isolation. Sectionalizing switches
adjacent to the faulted zones should be opened. Let 𝑺m r
fi and 𝑺fi
(13) denote the sets of manual switches and RCSs adjacent to the
faulted zones, respectively. Manual switches are operated by
field crews on site while RCSs are remotely operated by the
system operator in the distribution operating center. Assume
m
that the mean time to operate a manual switch and RCS are 𝑡swi
r
and 𝑡swi , respectively. Suppose that the number of field crews
available is 𝑁fc . The time for fault isolation can be estimated by
the following equation.
|𝑺m | m
𝑇fi = max {ceil ( fi ) 𝑡swi , |𝑺rfi |𝑡swi
r
} (14)
𝑁fc
The third step is restoration path isolation. That is, isolate
the selected restoration paths from the rest of the system and
divide the selected load groups into small subsets (see Section
IV-E). Let 𝑺m r
rpi and 𝑺rpi denote the sets of manual switches and
RCSs that need to be operated for restoration path isolation. If
operations of these switches are independent, they may be
performed simultaneously. Therefore, the time for restoration
path isolation can be estimated by the following equation.
|𝑺m
rpi | m
𝑇rpi = max {ceil ( ) 𝑡swi , |𝑺rrpi |𝑡swi
r
} (15)
𝑁fc
The last step is service restoration. Load zones in the selected
load groups are restored by the corresponding microgrid. Let
𝑮sel denote the set of load group selected. For 𝑗 ∈ 𝑮sel , the set
of manual switches and RCSs that need to be operated for
service restoration is 𝑺m r
sr,𝑗 and 𝑺sr,𝑗 , respectively. Switching
actions associated with a load group must be conducted in
sequence. The time interval between two consecutive actions
must be long enough to allow dynamics induced by the previ-
ous action to damp out. Let 𝑡int denote its lower limit.
Switching operations associated with different load groups are
independent. Therefore, the time for service restoration is de-
termined by the load group that needs longest time for the
corresponding restorative actions, i.e.,
𝑇sr = max (|𝑺m m
sr,𝑗 | max{𝑡swi , 𝑡int }
𝑗∈𝑮sel (16)
+ |𝑺rsr,𝑗 | max{𝑡swir
, 𝑡int })
G. Software Implementation
The proposed service restoration method is implemented
using MATLAB. The MATLAB program can call GridLAB-D
to perform power flow calculations or dynamic simulations and
use the results for feasibility evaluation.
The power flow algorithm used in GridLAB-D is an exten-
sion of the Current Injection Method (CIM) [18], [23]. The
CIM is based on the Newton-Raphson method and applicable to
unbalanced three-phase power systems.
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7

The electromechanical simulation method for unbalanced ical loads are connected at the bus. The microgrid is connected
power systems proposed in [23] is used in this study to simulate to the distribution system through a transformer at the point of
system dynamics. The electromechanical simulation method common coupling (PCC). The generation and load information
includes a synchronous machine dynamic model, a network for the four microgrids in the test system are given in Table I.
solver, an interface, and an initialization program. More details Parameters for generators and transformers are given in the
can be found in [23]. Appendix.
Power flow calculation and dynamic simulation results are Power flow calculations and dynamic simulations of the test
written into comma-separated values (CSV) files by system are performed using GridLAB-D. For power flow cal-
GridLAB-D. The MATLAB program reads data from the CSV culations, the generator bus in a microgrid is modeled as a slack
files, calculates variables in (2)-(10), and evaluates the opera- bus (constant voltage). For dynamic simulations, a generator
tional and dynamic constraints. Then the feasibility of restora- model applicable for unbalanced simulation [23] is adopted. A
tion paths and load groups is determined. Woodward diesel governor model (DEGOV) is used to main-
tain a constant frequency, i.e., 60 Hz, in the steady state. A
V. CASE STUDY simplified exciter system model (SEXS) is used to regulate the
generator’s terminal voltage (average magnitude of phase
A. System Information voltages). The diagrams and parameters for DEGOV and SEXS
A 4-feeder 1069-bus test system [16] with four microgrids are given in the Appendix. More details on the models of gen-
and five critical loads is used to validate the effectiveness of the erator and controllers can be found in [23].
proposed method. The one-line diagram of the test system is
shown in Fig. 1. The test system has a model in a GridLAB-D TABLE I
compatible format, which is based on the taxonomy feeder GENERATION AND LOAD DATA FOR MICROGRIDS
Microgrid ID 1 2 3 4
“R3-12.47-2” model [24] developed by the Pacific Northwest
Generation Real Power (MW) 8.5 4.25 5.95 3.4
National Laboratory (PNNL). Capacity Reactive Power (MVar) 5.27 2.63 3.69 2.11
A simplified microgrid model is used, as shown in Fig. 2. Generation Resource (MWh) 65 30 45 25
Each microgrid is modeled as a grid with a single bus. An Critical Demand (MW) 4.38 2.1 2.95 1.86
aggregated generator whose capacity equals the total capacity Load Power Factor 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9
of controllable units and an aggregated load representing crit-

Z28 Z15

Z25 Microgrid 1 Z40 Z33

Z29
M
Z31 Z35 Z17 Z20 Z39 Z38 Z12 Z3 Z13

Z10
F-a Z1 Z24 Z4 Z30 Z8 Z18 Z5 Z23 Z6 Z7 Z19 Z2 Z14 Z16 Z9 Z26 Z27

FB-a Z22
CL1
Z34 Z21 Z36 Z32 Z11
T2 Microgrid 2
Z37 Z68 Z55 M
T1 Z65 Z80 Z73
Z69

Z71 Z75 Z57 Z60 Z79 Z78 Z52 Z43

Z50
F-b Z41 Z64 Z62 Z44 Z48 Z58 Z45 Z63 Z46 Z47 Z59 Z42 Z54 Z56 Z49 Z66 Z67
FB-b Z70
CL2
T3
Z74 Z61 Z76 Z72 Z51 Z53
T7
Z77 Z108 Z95 T6
Z105 Z113 Microgrid 3
S Z109
M

Sub- Z111 Z115 Z116 Z97 Z100 Z119 Z118 Z83 Z93
CL4
Transmission Z88 Z90
F-c Z81 Z104 Z84 Z110 Z85 Z103 Z86 Z87 Z82 Z94 Z96 Z89 Z106 Z107
Node Z98 Z99
FB-c Z102 Z92

Z114 Z101 Z112 Z91

CL3
Z120
Z148 Z135
Z117 T4
Z145 T5 Z153
Z149

Z151 Z156 Z137 Z140 Z159 Z158 Z123

F-d Z121 Z144 Z142 Z124 Z150 Z128 Z138 Z125 Z143 Z126 Z127 Z139 Z122 Z134 Z136 Z130 Z146 Z147

FB-d Z129

Z154 Z141 Z155 Z152 Microgrid 4 CL5 Z132 Z131 Z133

Z160
M
Z157

Voltage Regulator F-a Feeder Id Load Zone Feeder Breaker Sectionalizing Switch Tie/Microgrid Switch M Microgrid

Fig. 1. One-line diagram of a 4-feeder 1069-bus test system.

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8

TABLE II
RESTORATION TREES
Microgrid ID Restoration Paths
1) M1-Z39-Z7-Z19-Z2
2) M1-Z39-Z7-Z19-Z2-Z14-Z16-Z9-Z78-Z54-Z56-Z49
Fig. 2. A simplified microgrid model. 3) M1-Z39-Z7-Z6-Z23-Z5-Z18-Z8-Z30-Z4-Z21-Z37-Z75
-Z48-Z58-Z45-Z90-Z92
1
4) M1-Z39-Z7-Z6-Z23-Z5-Z18-Z8-Z30-Z4-Z21-Z37-Z75
B. Results -Z48-Z58-Z45-Z90-Z106-Z93
Five zones in the test system are critical load zones, i.e., Z2, 5) M1-Z39-Z7-Z19-Z2-Z14-Z16-Z9-Z10-Z26-Z27-Z146
-Z130-Z132
Z49, Z92, Z93, and Z132. Each of them contains one critical
2 None
load, whose priority levels, 𝑐𝑖 , are 3, 3, 2, 2, and 1, respectively. 1) M3-Z93-Z106-Z90-Z45-Z63-Z46-Z47-Z59-Z42-Z54
The weighting factors for non-critical load zones are 0.05. -Z78-Z9-Z16-Z14-Z2
Assume that a severe event caused an outage of the entire dis- 3 2) M3-Z93-Z106-Z90-Z45-Z63-Z46-Z47-Z59-Z42-Z54
tribution system. Power from the transmission system is una- -Z56-Z49
vailable. Seven faults occurred in the distribution network. The 3) M3-Z93
corresponding faulted zones are Z22, Z60, Z70, Z98, Z99, 4 None
Z102, and Z129, as shown in Fig. 1. The outage duration is TABLE III
estimated to be 10 hours. LOAD GROUPS
The proposed method is used to find a restoration strategy for Index 𝑗 Source Critical Load Zones 𝑐sum,𝑗 𝜏𝑗 (hour)
the critical loads. 1 Microgrid 1 Z2 3.05 10
Step 1: construct restoration trees. Five restoration paths are 2 Microgrid 1 Z92 2.2 9.02
identified for Microgrid 1, three for Microgrid 3, and none for 3 Microgrid 1 Z93 2.2 9.77
Microgrids 2 and 4. Therefore, a restoration tree is constructed 4 Microgrid 1 Z92, Z93 4.2 7.33
for Microgrids 1 and 3, respectively. The results are summa- 5 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z132 4.25 7.35
6 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z93 5.2 9.53
rized in Table II.
7 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z92 5.2 8.83
Step 2: form load groups. Sixteen load groups are formed.
8 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z49 6.2 10
Weighting factors 𝑐sum,𝑗 and service time 𝜏𝑗 are calculated for 9 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z92, Z93 7.2 7.22
each load group, as shown in Table III. Only critical load zones 10 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z49, Z132 7.3 6.97
in each load groups are given. Non-critical load zones in the 11 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z49, Z93 8.35 8.37
load groups can be identified from the restoration paths given in 12 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z49, Z92 8.35 7.82
Table II. Note that dynamic simulation is essential in the fea- 13 Microgrid 1 Z2, Z49, Z92, Z93 10.35 6.52
sibility evaluation of load groups. For example, from Fig. 1, it 14 Microgrid 3 Z93 2 10
can be seen that microgrid 4 is close to critical load CL5. It 15 Microgrid 3 Z49, Z93 5.2 7.98
16 Microgrid 3 Z2, Z93 5.3 7.72
appears to be a good idea to use microgrid 4 to restore critical
load CL5 through path “M4-Z160-Z132.” Indeed, by power
flow calculations, one finds that the path does satisfy all oper-
ational constraints. However, it is not listed as a feasible res-
toration path in Table II. This is because the amount of load on
zone Z160 is large and the generator capacity of microgrid 4 is
relatively small, which causes instability if an attempt is made
to pick up zone Z160 by microgrid 4.
Step 3: formulate and solve maximum coverage problem.
The critical load restoration problem is formulated as a maxi-
mum coverage problem and solved using the MATLAB MILP
Solver intlinprog. Load groups 12 and 14 are selected. Four (a)
out of five critical loads are restored. Specifically, zones Z2,
Z49, and Z92 are restored by microgrid 1 for a time period of
7.82 hours, zone Z93 is restored by microgrid 3 for a time
period of 10 hours, while zone Z132 remains interrupted. The
cumulative service time of microgrids to external loads
weighted by their priority is 85.32 hours.
Step 4: Determine restorative actions. After disconnecting
load zones that are not on the restoration paths, critical load
zones Z2, Z49, and Z92 are restored by microgrid 1 in five
actions, while Z93 is restored by microgrid 3 in one action. The (b)
time interval between two consecutive actions is one minute.
Fig. 3. Frequency variations of (a) microgrid 1 and (b) microgrid 3.
The frequency variations of the two microgrids are shown in
Fig. 3.

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C. Discussions
1) Time Associated with Fault Management Activities Note that microgrid 1 restores the corresponding load zones
Assume that all switches in the test system are manual and by five switching operations. The time interval between two
there are 𝑁fc = 10 field crews. Suppose that the mean time to consecutive switching operations should be long enough to
operate a manual switch and a RCS are 𝑡swi m
= 30 minutes and allow the dynamics induced by an action to damp out before the
r
𝑡swi = 20 seconds, respectively. The implementation time (in next action is performed. It depends on the amount of load to be
the sense of average) for fault isolation, restoration path isola- picked up in each action, as well as the capacity of generators
tion, and service restoration can be estimated using (14)-(16) and controller settings. In the above case, an interval of one
proposed in Section IV-F. The results are as follows. minute is used, i.e., 𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 1 minute , which is determined
i) Fault isolation: In the above scenario, there are seven empirically. When applying the proposed method to other
faults. Fourteen switches should be opened to isolate the distribution systems, the proper time interval should be deter-
faulted zones, which takes 1 hour. mined case by case.
ii) Restoration path isolation: The selected restoration
paths are indicated by green color in Fig. 1. Eight 2) Computational Burden
switches should be opened for load group 12, including The proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB and
Z9-Z10, Z45-Z63, Z42-Z54, Z49-Z50, Z89-Z90, GridLAB-D on a PC with an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU
Z83-Z90, Z90-Z91, and Z90-92, while one switch, i.e., and 12 GB RAM. The total running time for this case is 296.14
Z93-Z106, for load group 14. Note that some zones not s. Specifically, gathering case information takes 20.79 s, con-
on the restoration paths are not disconnected, e.g., zone structing restoration trees 106.52 s, forming load groups 123.95
Z38, because these zones serve no load. Assuming that s, solving the maximum coverage problem 0.27 s, and deter-
each switch is operated by a field crew, the process takes mining restorative actions 44.61 s. It can be seen that most of
30 minutes. the computation time is spent on constructing restoration trees
iii) Service restoration: By closing switch M3-Z93, zone and forming load groups. This is because dynamic simulation is
Z93 (with critical load CL4) is restored by microgrid 3, used to evaluate the feasibility of restoration paths and load
which takes 30 minutes. Microgrid 1 will pick up the groups. In this case, GridLAB-D dynamic simulation is per-
corresponding load zones by closing switches M1-Z39, formed 35 times with an execution time of 253.3 s, 85.5% of
T2, T1, T3, and Z90-92 in sequence. Each switching the total computation time. Note that, for the feasibility evalu-
operation takes 30 minutes. ation of a restoration path or load group, dynamic simulation is
The above results are summarized in the second row of Table performed on the corresponding portion of the distribution
IV. system but not the entire system, which significantly reduces
According to the authors’ prior research [16], upgrading a the simulation time.
small portion of manual switches to RCSs can significantly The proposed method is intended for online use. When a
reduce the implementation time of restoration plans. Suppose major disaster strikes a distribution system, the proposed
that the four microgrid switches, seven tie switches, and ten method will be used to determine the service restoration strat-
sectionalizing switches adjacent to critical load zones are up- egy after faults are located. To avoid unacceptably long com-
graded to RCSs. Since the switches adjacent to faulted zones putational time, especially for large distribution systems with
are not upgraded, the time for fault isolation does not change. multiple microgrids and critical loads, parallel computing can
The restoration path isolation and service restoration processes be used to accelerate the computation, based on the fact that
become more efficient due to RCSs. For example, zone Z93 restoration paths and load groups associated with different
(with CL4) can be isolated from the rest of the distribution microgrids are independent and can be evaluated separately.
network by opening a RCS, Z93-Z106, and restored by mi-
crogrid 3 by closing another RCS, M3-Z93. Each switching VI. APPLICATION
operation is assumed to take 20 seconds. Similarly, the time The proposed method is applied to the Avista distribution
elements associated with microgrid 1 and critical loads CL1, system that serves Pullman, including Washington State Uni-
CL2, and CL3 can be estimated. The results are given in the versity [25]. There are two critical loads on the distribution
third row of Table IV. feeders, i.e., the Pullman Regional Hospital and Pullman City
Hall (acting as a local emergency response center). Three
TABLE IV
generators, one 1.75 MW diesel generator and two 1.1 MW
IMPLEMENTATION TIME
Fault Restoration Service
natural gas generators, are available at the WSU power plant
Activity providing backup power for the campus. These generators and
Isolation Path Isolation Restoration
CL1: 30 minutes the control capability as a microgrid provide potential sources
Microgrid 1:
Time CL2: 1 hour for service restoration when power from Avista is unavailable.
30 minutes
without 1 hour CL3: 2.5 hours By applying the proposed method, the restoration paths for
RCSs Microgrid 3: critical loads are obtained, as shown in Fig. 4. The City Hall
CL4: 30 minutes
30 minutes and Hospital are restored through a restoration path with one
CL1: 20 seconds transformer and nine zones. Without considering dynamic
Microgrid 1:
Time CL2: 80 seconds
30 minutes constraints, critical loads, on and off campus, can be restored at
with 1 hour CL3: 260 seconds
RCSs Microgrid 3:
the same time, which can be validated by power flow calcula-
CL4: 20 seconds tions. However, the results of dynamic simulation indicate that
20 seconds

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10

the system will become unstable. Another intuitive choice is to them in order to maintain the function of the hospital. Further
restore critical loads on campus first (with one action) and then studies should consider the interdependency of critical loads.
energize the City Hall and Hospital by closing the four tie
switches on the restoration path. The dynamic simulation re-
sults are shown in Fig. 5. A significant fluctuation in system
frequency and generator voltage is observed. The minimum
transient frequency is 47.41 Hz, which falls outside the ac-
ceptable range defined by constraint (4).
Proper switching actions are then determined by the method
proposed in Section IV-E. The restoration plan is implemented
in seven steps. The time interval between two restorative ac-
tions is one minute. In steps 1-3, critical loads within WSU are
restored. Steps 4-7 restore the loads on the restoration path. The
City Hall and Hospital are restored in step 5 and 7, respectively.
The dynamics of system frequency and generator voltages are
shown in Fig. 6. Note that a Woodward diesel governor model Fig. 4. Critical load restoration strategy for Pullman-WSU system.
with a droop speed control (DEGOV1) is applied to allow
proper load sharing among the three generators and the sec-
ondary frequency control is not considered. Therefore, the
steady-state frequency is a bit lower than 60 Hz but acceptable.
Natural gas and diesel are fuels for WSU generators. Natural
gas is served to WSU through a pipeline from British Columbia,
Canada. Another route coming out of Albert, Canada, and
down into Colorado provides back-up service. As long as one
of the two paralleling pipelines remains working, one can as-
sume that an infinite amount of natural gas is available for
(a)
WSU generators. Diesel is delivered to WSU by trucks and
stored in a 250,000-gallon fuel tank. WSU receives 10,000
gallons of diesel per delivery and 8 deliveries per year. For the
diesel generator on WSU campus, generating 1-kWh electric
energy consumes about 0.086 gallons of diesel. Therefore, after
a major disaster, if the natural gas pipeline is not damaged and
the diesel tank is not empty, the WSU generators can serve
critical loads on and off campus. If the two pipelines are
damaged and the roads entering Pullman are blocked, one can
only rely on the diesel generator. In this case, the diesel gener- (b)
ator will serve only the critical loads on campus and the service Fig. 5. Curves of (a) system frequency and (b) generator voltages. Critical loads
on campus are restored in one step.
time depends on the amount of diesel left in the tank. Note that
the WSU steam plant (one of the critical load on campus, which
is used for heating in winter) also consumes diesel. When the
steam plant and diesel generator are both operated at full ca-
pacity, a full tank of diesel can supply them for about 5-7 days.

VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

A service restoration method is proposed using microgrids to
pick up critical loads on the distribution feeders after a major
disaster. Dynamic performance of DGs and limits on genera-
(a)
tion resources are incorporated as the constraints of the critical
load restoration problem. The simulation results demonstrate
that it is important to consider dynamic constraints for feasi-
bility evaluation of restoration schemes with microgrids.
The critical loads are assumed to be independent with each
other in this stage. In practice, a critical load may rely on an-
other critical load to maintain its function [26]. For example, a
hospital needs both electricity and water. The water pumping
stations also consume electricity. If one considers a hospital
and the water infrastructure supplying water to the hospital as (b)
critical (electric) loads, it would be necessary to restore both of Fig. 6. Curves of (a) system frequency and (b) generator voltages. Restorative
actions are determined by the proposed method.

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TSG.2016.2591531, IEEE
Transactions on Smart Grid
In this paper, DGs are modeled as synchronous machines.
Different types of DGs should be considered in the future work.
An important feature is whether a unit is controllable or
non-controllable. Other features that affect service restoration
include intermittency, interface to the grid, and dynamic char-
acteristics. In addition, distribution automation also plays an
important role. Remote monitoring and control of DGs can
facilitate the decision-making process and implementation of
restoration plans.
VIII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the WSU Facilities and
Avista Utility Company for their support in this research.
APPENDIX
A. Parameters of generator [27]
𝐻 = 0.7 s, 𝐷 = 0.0 p.u., number of poles = 2, 𝑟𝑎 = 0.00625 p.u., 𝑥𝑑 =
2.06 p.u., 𝑥𝑞 = 2.5 p.u., 𝑥𝑑′ = 0.398 p.u., 𝑥𝑞′ = 0.3 p.u., 𝑥𝑑′′ = 0.254 p.u.,
𝑥𝑞′′ = 0.254 p.u., 𝑥𝑙 = 0.1 p.u., 𝑇𝑑′ = 0.31737 s, 𝑇𝑑0
′
= 4.45075 s, 𝑇𝑞0 ′
= system restoration with large scale of dispersed generation insertion,"
′′ ′′
3.0 s, 𝑇𝑑0 = 0.066 s, 𝑇𝑞0 = 0.075 s, 𝑇𝑎 = 0.03202 s, 𝑟2 = 0.0072 p.u.,
𝑥2 = 0.254 p.u., 𝑟0 = 0.005 p.u., 𝑥0 = 0.05 p.u.
B. Diagram and parameters of governor (DEGOV/DEGOV1)
The model DEGOV does not include the droop speed control.
𝐾 = 1.2 p.u., 𝑇1 = 0.2 s, 𝑇2 = 0.3 s, 𝑇3 = 0.5 s, 𝑇4 = 1.0 s, 𝑇5 =
0.1 s, 𝑇6 = 0.2 s, 𝑇max = 1.0 p.u., 𝑇min = 0.0 p.u., 𝑅 = 1 %
(DEGOV1 only), 𝑇𝐷 = 0.01 s
C. Diagram and parameters of exciter (SEXS)
𝑇𝐵 = 2.0 s, 𝑇𝐶 = 10 s, 𝐾𝐴 = 50 p.u., 𝑇𝐴 = 0.01 s, 𝐸max = 3.0 p.u.,
𝐸min = −3.0 p.u.
D. Parameters of transformer
𝑆𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 = 15 MVA, 𝑉1 /𝑉2 = 12.47/4.16 kV, 𝑟𝑡 = 0.007636 p.u.,
𝑥𝑡 = 0.053457 p.u.
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Yin Xu (S’12–M’14) received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engi-
neering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2008 and 2013, respec-
tively.
He is currently an Assistant Research Professor at the School of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Pullman,
WA, USA. His research interests include distribution system restoration,
microgrid, power system resilience, power system electromagnetic transients
simulation, and high-performance computing in power systems.
Dr. Xu is currently serving as Secretary of the Distribution Test Feeder
Working Group under the IEEE PES Distribution System Analysis Subcom-
mittee.

Chen-Ching Liu (S’80–M’83–SM’90–F’94) received the Ph.D. degree from

the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, in 1983.
He served as a Professor with the University of Washington, Seattle, WA,
USA, from 1983–2005. During 2006–2008, he was Palmer Chair Professor
with Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA. During 2008–2011, he was a
Professor and Acting/Deputy Principal of the College of Engineering, Math-
ematical and Physical Sciences with University College Dublin, Ireland. Cur-
rently, he is Boeing Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and
Director of the Energy Systems Innovation Center, Washington State Univer-
sity, Pullman, WA, USA.
Prof. Liu was the recipient of the IEEE PES Outstanding Power Engineering
Educator Award in 2004. In 2013, he received the Doctor Honoris Causa from
Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania. He served as Chair of the IEEE
PES Technical Committee on Power System Analysis, Computing, and Eco-
nomics during 2005–2006. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Kevin P. Schneider (S’00–M’06–SM’08) received his B.S. degree in Physics

and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of
Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
He is currently a Principal Research Engineer with the Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, working at the Battelle Seattle Research Center, Seattle,
WA, USA. He is an Adjunct Faculty member with Washington State Univer-
sity, Pullman, WA, USA, and an Affiliate Assistant Professor with the Uni-
versity of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. His main areas of research are
distribution system analysis and power system operations.
Dr. Schneider is a licensed Professional Engineer in Washington State. He is
the past Chair of the Distribution System Analysis Sub-Committee and current
Secretary of the Power System Analysis, Computing, and Economics (PSACE)
Committee.

Francis K. Tuffner (S’03–M08) received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engi-

neering from the University of Wyoming in 2008.
He is currently a Senior Research Engineer with the Pacific Northwest Na-
tional Laboratory. His research interests include signal processing applied to
power systems, PHEV integration, embedded control devices, distribution level
modeling, and digital signal processing.

Dan T. Ton received his B.S. degree is in electrical engineering and M.S.
degree in business management from the University of Maryland, Baltimore,
MD, USA.
He is a Program Manager of Smart Grid R&D within the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE). He
is responsible for developing and implementing a multi-year R&D program
plan for next-generation smart grid technologies to transform the electric grid in
the United States through public/private partnerships. Previously, he managed
the Renewable Systems Integration program within the DOE Solar Energy
Technologies Program.

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