Electricity distribution network power quality regulation (Spanish text)

The regulation of the electricity distribution utilities has evolved to a scenario based on competition and cost-effectiveness. This cost reduction may affect the quality performance. A quality regulatory proposal based on yardstick competition is presented in this Ph.D. thesis. The proposal focuses on the continuity of supply in the electricity distribution networks. The competition is against objective values of the selected zonal quality indices that are computed using a probabilistic model that takes into account the historical behavior of the distribution network and considers the quality indices as random variables. A monitoring scheme has been developed to obtain the basic reliability indices from the rough data. A methodology to segment the supplied area is proposed. The implementation plan of the regulatory proposal and the incentive/penalty scheme to encourage utilities to improve their quality indices, are also presented. An implementation study case of the scheme is shown. The conceptual framework of this proposal and the different regulations of the continuity of supply of several countries are also reviewed in detail.