Investigating a ranking of loads in avoiding potential power system outages

In this work, we consider the impact or sensitivity of loads to likely power system contingencies that would require the adoption of demand management programs and we establish a frame work for determining the most critical loads and ranking them. Moreover we develop a novel weighted average approach that can be modified to specific power system needs and determine the most effective load for a number of likely contingencies. The methodologies developed in this work are tested on a wide range of sample power system test cases with successful results.