A Game Theory Approach to Distribution System Reliability Improvement Based on Customer Requests

Distribution system reliability programs are usually based on improvement of average reliability indices. They have weakness in terms of distinguishing between reliability of different customers that may prefer different level of reliability. This paper proposes a new framework based on game theory to accommodate customers’ reliability requests in distribution system reliability provision. To do this, distribution reliability equations are developed so that it is recognized how game theory is suitable for this purpose and why conventional methods could not provide customer reliability requirements appropriately. It would be shown that customer participation in distribution system reliability provision can make conflict of interest and leads to a competition between customers. So, in this paper a game theoretic approach is designed to model possible strategic behavior of customers in distribution system reliability provision. The results show that by implementing the proposed model, distribution utilities would have the capability to respond to customers’ reliability requirements, such that it is beneficial for both utility and customers.