The scale and pace of change at the distribution level are driving a renewed interest in the decision-making methods and approaches used to develop and expand distribution grids. Over the past decade, both industry and academia have shown increasing interest in applying approaches that explicitly account for uncertainties in distribution system planning. The IEEE Modern and Future Distribution System Planning Working Group has developed a new framework called Distribution System Uncertainty Identification and Mapping (DSUIM) that aims to support planners in identifying uncertain factors that affect planning and determining how these uncertainties can be managed.
Active Committees/Task Forces of Interest
- IEEE Power System Operation, Planning and Economics Committee (PSOPE)
- Under the IEEE Power System Operation, Planning and Economics (PSOPE) Committee are:
- Distribution System Operation and Planning Subcommittee
- IEEE Modern and Future Distribution System Planning Working Group
- Co-chairs (2026-2028): Leo Jiang, Clarkson University, ; Abodh Poudyal, Electric Power Engineers, poudyal@ieee.org
- Outgoing Co-Chairs (2024-2026): Daniel Donaldson l.donaldson@bham.ac.uk, Matthew Deakin
- Key Activities: The Working Group meets virtually (roughly every quarter) and also in-person at IEEE and other industry events. There is also an annual seminar series held each Spring. If you are interested to join the working group, please contact Abodh Poudyal.
Technical Reports & Applicable Papers or Presentations
- TR 129 – A Framework to Identify and Map Uncertainties in Distribution System Planning
- TR 115 – Flexibility for Integrated Grid Planning with Distributed Energy Resources
- Planning for Distribution System Resilience to Extreme Weather Events (PESGM 2026)
- Proactive Distribution Planning for Reliability and Resilience (PESGM 2024)
- Integrated Planning for Modern and Future Distribution Systems (T&D 2024)
- Future of Distribution Planning Studies with DER Aggregation due to FERC 2222 and Impact on Transmission Studies (T&D 2024)
Publications
- V. Vahidinasab et al., “Overview of Electric Energy Distribution Networks Expansion Planning,” in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 34750-34769, 2020
- C. García-Santacruz, A. Marano-Marcolini and J. L. Martinez-Ramos, “A Review of Non-Wires Alternatives to Distribution Network Reinforcements: Comparison of Utility and Investor Perspectives,” 2023 IEEE International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering and 2023 IEEE Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Europe (EEEIC / I&CPS Europe), Madrid, Spain, 2023, pp. 1-6
- S. Wang and R. Bo, “A Resilience-Oriented Multi-Stage Adaptive Distribution System Planning Considering Multiple Extreme Weather Events,” in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 1193-1204, April 2023
- A. Poudyal, S. Poudel and A. Dubey, “Risk-Based Active Distribution System Planning for Resilience Against Extreme Weather Events,” in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 1178-1192, April 2023
- E. M. S. Duque, J. S. Giraldo, P. P. Vergara, P. H. Nguyen, A. v. d. Molen and J. G. Slootweg, “Risk-Aware Operating Regions for PV-Rich Distribution Networks Considering Irradiance Variability,” in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 2092-2108, Oct. 2023
- R. Masiello, S. Pandey, D. Chatterjee, A. Harper, A. Jackson and E. Takayesu, “Understanding Grid Flexibility: Flexibility for Integrated Grid Planning With Distributed Energy Resources,” in IEEE Power and Energy Magazine, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 60-66, March-April 2024
- E. Karunarathne, M. Z. Liu, L. F. Ochoa and T. Alpcan, “Using Real Smart Meter Data to Construct Three-Phase Low Voltage Network Models,” in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 2465-2477, May 2025