IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 29, NO.

4, JULY 2014

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Next Generation Transmission Expansion

Planning Framework: Models, Tools,
and Educational Opportunities
Jaime Quintero, Member, IEEE, Hui Zhang, Student Member, IEEE, Yacine Chakhchoukh, Member, IEEE,
Vijay Vittal, Fellow, IEEE, and Gerald T. Heydt, Life Fellow, IEEE

AbstractThis paper presents a discussion of the contemporary

transmission expansion planning (TEP) framework focusing on
educational opportunities and curriculum development. An analysis of the mathematical models and fundamental concepts, as well
as available software tools and necessary skills for state-of-the-art
TEP projects, is presented based on research and academic experiences. A guide to TEP curriculum development for power engineering programs is proposed including materials at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Index TermsDynamic stability, power engineering education,
power system planning, power system security, power system stability, static limits, Western Interconnection.

I. INTRODUCTION

HE national push for a resilient grid and the increasing

penetration of renewable energy resources has significantly influenced the operation and planning of power systems.
The future power grid is expected to be a resilient network that
is flexible and robust enough to withstand various uncertainties
and disturbances. According to the 10-year planning summary
[1] prepared by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council
(WECC), loads are projected to increase by 14% from 2009
to 2020, resulting in a 1.2% compounded annual growth rate.
From the generation perspective, the future generation mix is
expected to be significantly different from the past because
new generation additions are expected to be dominated by
Manuscript received May 30, 2013; revised October 03, 2013 and March 04,
2014; accepted April 08, 2014. Date of publication April 24, 2014; date of current version June 16, 2014. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy funded project denominated Regional Transmission Expansion
Planning in the Western Interconnection under contract DOE-FOA0000068.
This is a project under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Paper
no. TPWRS-00682-2013.
J. Quintero was with the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 USA. He is now with
Universidad Autnoma de Occidente, Cali, Colombia (e-mail: jaime.quintero.
1@asu.edu).
H. Zhang is with California ISO, Folsom, CA 95630 USA (e-mail:
hui.zhang@asu.edu).
Y. Chakhchoukh was with the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 USA. He is now
with TokyoTech, Tokyo, Japan (e-mail: ychakhch@asu.edu).
V. Vittal, and G. T. Heydt are with the Department of Electrical, Computer
and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 USA
(e-mail: vvittal1@asu.edu; heydt@asu.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRS.2014.2317590

renewable resources to fulfill state-mandated renewable portfolio standard (RPS). By the year 2020, a total amount of 15
GW of conventional units are going to be retired and 59 GW
of additional generation will be added in the U.S. Western
Interconnection, of which over 50% is composed of wind and
solar PV. In addition, the U.S. Western Interconnection is projected to generate 17% of its energy from non-hydro renewable
sources in 2020. Similarly, many other countries also have
their own RPS or are on their way to implementing such a plan
[2]. With these projected changes, several technical challenges
arise in operating and planning future power systems. First, the
load increase will alter the power flow patterns in the existing
grid and may result in potential reliability violations such as
overloads and stability issues. Second, newly built renewable
power plants need to be carefully connected to the bulk power
system because the location and the voltage level of the interconnection point could affect the system reliability significantly
[3]. A common solution to the challenges mentioned above is to
add additional transmission capacity to the existing power grid,
which makes transmission expansion planning (TEP) critical.
Traditionally, the TEP exercise focused on improving the reliability and security of the power system in the era when economic impacts were less of a primary concern. The contemporary deregulated electricity market and the increasing penetration of renewable resources present new challenges to the
traditional TEP process in terms of the system economic impacts and resiliency to uncertainties [4], [5]. Nevertheless, the
reliability of the system is always an important component of
the TEP process. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has developed detailed transmission planning
standards [6] for both steady state and transient studies. Recent
efforts have led to the inclusion of security constraints within
the optimization problem [7], [8]. However, due to modeling
simplifications in the TEP algorithms, impacts of the proposed
transmission expansion solutions on the security of the system
need to be revalidated by a comprehensive region-wide plan
using accurate static and dynamic models.
Therefore, the envisioned TEP process requires a comprehensive analysis including policies, markets, uncertainties and security of the system. This process is expected to be time intensive and will involve inter-disciplinary expertise. To facilitate
the transition, it is important to identify the needs and challenges
in the contemporary power engineering curricula offered at universities to meet the needs of qualified power system engineers
involved in the next generation TEP process.
Based on research and teaching experiences, this paper
presents the current and future challenges and solutions for

0885-8950 2014 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 29, NO. 4, JULY 2014

transmission planning engineers from an educational and

training perspective. Considering the fundamental principles,
the mathematical models and the computational tools used in
todays regional TEP processes, necessary engineering skills
and educational opportunities are identified. It is proposed that
these subjects be fully integrated into the senior year undergraduate and graduate power engineering education syllabi.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section II
presents the contemporary TEP process framework from an
economic perspective. Section III describes the mathematical
models and the principles that support the TEP process. A
discussion on the available software tools and practical skills
necessary for the transmission planning engineer is presented
in Section IV. Section V describes the experience in the incorporation of some of the discussed topics, in a transmission
operation and planning course. Section VI is a guide for curriculum implementation of the skills and topics presented.
Finally, concluding remarks are presented in Section VII.
II. NEXT GENERATION TEP FRAMEWORK
The goal of the contemporary TEP exercise is to improve the
overall market efficiency and simultaneously enhance system
reliability. In order to balance the economics and the reliability,
it is crucial to identify the correct set of transmission lines to
be added. Beyond the traditional power flow and contingency
analysis, the TEP process is under transition to a comprehensive decision-making process in which the value of the transmission projects needs to be accurately evaluated based on resource forecasts.
The traditional TEP approach focused on protecting the
system from the worst case scenario. In other words, the
transmission network is designed to protect against the worst
contingency at the peak load level. This approach was based on
the assumption that if a system survived the worst contingency,
the system would be robust enough to survive any other contingency. While this assumption might be valid in some cases, the
worst case-based TEP approach is not suited for contemporary
power systems. The reasons are twofold: First, some critical
contingencies are very unlikely to occur; protecting against
these contingencies by building more transmission lines is
not economical. Instead, remedial action schemes (RASs) are
usually designed to mitigate the impact of these contingencies
by sequentially opening a set of lines or even tripping generation or loads. Second, the massive installation of renewable
resources and the deepening of deregulated electricity markets
have brought increasing uncertainties to the power grid. These
factors make the worst case difficult to identify because
it may not always occur at peak load level. In addition, the
system operating costs are also subject to randomness. Prices
of different resources such as gas and coal are unclear in the
future. Inflation and possible delays in completion can affect
the estimated benefits as well. All these factors make an exact
transmission expansion planning process, without considering
uncertainties, unrealistic. Thus, considering uncertainties in
deciding transmission expansion investments is critical.
With the above factors considered, the proposed framework
for next generation TEP is shown in Fig. 1. The framework can
be categorized into four stages as described in the dotted boxes.
In order to develop a planning base case in the first stage, one
can consider the operational case of the current year, adjust the
load level according to the forecast of the load growth, remove

Fig. 1. Next generation transmission expansion planning process.

the generators to be retired and add the generators to be installed

in the targeted planning year. Federal policy requirements, e.g.,
RPS, and stakeholders inputs are also taken into consideration
at this stage. Thus, a reference planning base case is created to
represent the standard future.
Due to the potential load increase, it is normal to observe
some overloads in this reference case and identify where transmission expansion is needed. The base case development is crucial in the TEP process because it serves as a basis for the entire planning framework. After the base case is developed, different scenarios are derived in the next stage based on stakeholders inputs with the parameters in the base case adjusted to
different values. Typical alternative scenarios include combination of variations in loads, energy costs, as well as the generation mix. The candidate lines together with the scenarios serve
as inputs to the next stage of network optimization. The network
optimization is the core of the entire TEP framework.
Traditionally, due to the lack of efficient algorithms, this step
was usually conducted using a trial and error approach. That is,
the value of the expansion projects were evaluated by running
production cost models with different sets of new lines. However, this approach is by nature a heuristic approach and is only
feasible when the candidate line pool is small. As the number of
candidate lines increases, the computational burden can easily
become intractable. With the development of advanced optimization algorithms, the trend of the next generation TEP exercise will include production cost analysis based on a mixedinteger programming formulation, which simultaneously optimizes the network expansions and economic dispatch. After the
network is optimized for each of the scenarios, transmission
lines that appear in most scenarios are viewed as projects with
high value and added to the base case.
In the final stage, the adequacy and security (static and dynamic stability) of the expanded system should be evaluated
using complete static and dynamic system models with the expectation to identify possible sub-regional reinforcement.
III. MATHEMATICAL MODELS
The TEP practice generally consists of two stages: grid
optimization and reliability validation. In grid optimization,
the TEP model can be viewed as an extension of the optimal
power flow (OPF) problem. The TEP and OPF problems share
a common basis in the sense that they are both constrained
optimization problems. The main difference, however, is that
the TEP problem optimizes the network topology based on
the economic dispatch. In the grid optimization stage, binary

QUINTERO et al.: NEXT GENERATION TRANSMISSION EXPANSION PLANNING FRAMEWORK

variables are used to determine the status of potential transmission lines and make the TEP formulation mixed-integer in
nature. In order to obtain an efficient solution, the linearized
power flow model (i.e., the direct current (DC) model) and its
variations are extensively used in the TEP grid optimization
model. For impartial transmission planning organizations such
as independent system operators (ISOs), the commonly used
objective function is to jointly minimize the investment cost
and the operating cost over a time horizon. A high-level TEP
model usually has the following form:

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Fig. 2. Static critical point.

(1a)
subject to
(1b)
(1c)
(1d)
In the above model, a bold face lower case font refers to vectors.
The first term in the objective function represents the capital
cost of the line investments, where is a binary decision variable indicating whether a particular line is chosen. The second
term represents the operating cost, which can be evaluated as
the total operating costs over a certain time horizon as shown
in (2). The total operating costs is represented as the summation of multiple scenarios with respect to different load levels.
Typically, these costs are discounted to the present dollar value
when the planning decision is made
(2)
The equality constraints (1b) represent the nodal power balance equations. The inequality constraints (1c) represent the
branch flow limit. The bounds on variables (1d) include upper
and lower limits on bus voltage magnitudes and angles as well
as the generator outputs. As mentioned above, the TEP grid optimization model can be formulated as a mixed-integer linear
programming problem and solved by commercial solvers.
In the reliability validation stage, both the static and dynamic
security of the power system needs to be carefully evaluated.
Static voltage limits as known in nonlinear system theory are
critical points. In a conservative system described in (3), critical
points are defined as points where transition from stability to
instability occurs along a static equilibrium path, as shown in
Fig. 2.
Traditionally in power systems, static path and voltage limits
are determined by the convergence of a power flow solution
with selected load and generation scenarios
(3)
Additionally, stability in the sense of Lyapunov is the fundamental concept for understanding dynamic stability. Considering the autonomous system [9]
(4)
the equilibrium point
such that

is stable if for each

, there is
(5)

The equilibrium point is asymptotically stable if, it is stable and

can be chosen, such that
(6)
Lyapunovs first method shows that the stability of a linearized
system around the equilibrium point
of the form
(7)
can be estimated by calculating the eigenvalues of the Jacobian
matrix . Also, obtaining the eigenvectors and participation
factors associated with the eigenvalues of provide useful information for the small signal stability assessment of the system.
On the other hand, nonlinear system concepts such as phase portraits, system mapping, regions of attraction, and bifurcation
theory together with asymptotic stability in the sense of Lyapunov are key tools for the understanding and assessment of
transient stability.
In order to introduce stability phenomena and analytical
tools to students, the use of reduced scale power systems
models in the classroom demonstration and course projects
is a common practice. In this way, the ideas of static critical
points, Lyapunov stability and bifurcation theory can be clearly
observed. On the other hand, the regional security assessment
of contemporary and planned power systems involves accurate
static and dynamic modeling of a large number and a wide
variety of interacting devices with significant nonlinearities.
The size and the complexity of the system response can make
it extremely difficult to obtain stability limits and recognize
trends. While reduced order test bed cases used in the academic
environment normally preserve principal characteristics of the
original large-scale systems, working with detailed models of
realistic systems with the inherent increase of system variables,
uncertainty, interrelations and nonlinearities requires additional
skills. Furthermore, the increasing penetration of converter
control based renewable generators (CCBGs) such as wind and
photovoltaic generators as well as the retirement of conventional synchronous generators introduce new challenges in the
behavior of bulk power systems that may only be observed by
the detailed modeling and simulation of the entire system.
IV. AVAILABLE SOFTWARE TOOLS
Many software tools are available to facilitate analytical
studies in power system engineering. In order to perform a systematic planning study, two types of software tools are usually
required. The first type of tools is used to perform power system
studies including power flow, contingency, as well as stability
analysis. The commonly used commercial software tools and
their functionalities are summarized in Table I. Students should

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 29, NO. 4, JULY 2014

TABLE I
AVAILABLE SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR POWER SYSTEM ANALYSIS

*Direct current optimal power flow (DCOPF) and a linearized alternating current optimal power flow (ACOPF)

become familiar with one or more of these tools in order to

perform the power system studies shown in Table I.
The DSATools package [10] consists of four modules for
power flow (PF), transient stability (TS), small signal stability
(SS) and static voltage stability (VS) analysis respectively.
PSS/E [11] and PSLF [12] are two of the most widely used
tools in Eastern and Western North America respectively.
With add-ons, PSS/E is able to perform all the studies listed in
Table I. PowerWorld [13] is an emerging software package. It
was widely adopted in the classroom for educational purpose
thanks to its powerful visualization functions. Now, with more
functions added, PowerWorld has been widely acknowledged
in the power industry. Neplan [14], from Switzerland, with
a very user-friendly graphical interface and integration with
C/C
and MATLAB is popular in Europe and Latin America
and is suitable for academic purposes. A complete version
of this package is offered to universities at a reduced price.
However, if budget is a concern, power system analysis toolbox
(PSAT) [15] and MatPower [16] are two free MATLAB-based
open source tools. PSAT offers a wide range of functionalities including static power flow and stability analysis with a
user-friendly interface. MatPower is a powerful tool for solving
power flow and OPF problems. These two tools also provide
excellent flexibility to utilize other open source software to
solve many user-defined problems.
The second type of tools performs planning studies. Their
functionality includes security-constrained economic dispatch
(SCED), security-constrained unit commitment (SCUC), transmission expansion planning (TEP) as well as generation expansion planning (GEP). Table II provides a list of planning
tools that are commonly used in the industry. GridView [19],
PROMOD [20] and UPLAN [21] are used for production cost
analysis up to 8760-hour a year. For SCED analysis, UPLAN
supports both the direct current (DC) and the alternating current (AC) power flow model. PLEXOS [22] uses mixed-integer
based models to perform transmission and generation expansion planning studies. PSR Net-Plan [23] is an integrated computational environment for transmissions analysis and expansion studies. Its module OptNet is specifically designed for TEP
analysis. These software packages are widely used in todays
power industry in the U.S. and offer similar functionalities. Exposure to these tools will help prepare the students to readily
work for power utilities as a transmission planning engineer.
Most of these software packages offer academic licenses at no
cost or at a significantly lower cost. University educators should
take advantage of this option. Notice that although academic licenses are usually good for class demonstration purpose, they
may have limited functionality and problem size restrictions.

TABLE II
AVAILABLE SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR PLANNING STUDIES

Experience in an educational environment shows that it is

highly desirable to have a dedicated power engineering computing laboratory, where students are able to run the power systems studies described in Tables I and II. Moreover, graduate
students are expected to be able to run commercial versions of
the programs with real-world case data, developing additional
skills such as data management, and an in depth understanding
of the complexities associated with large power systems. Some
of these complexities are highlighted next in the case example.
Both modeling languages and general high-level languages
can be used to formulate the TEP problem. Modeling languages
such as AMPL [24], GAMS [25] and AIMMS [26] are tools
designed to formulate large and complex optimization models
conveniently. Through these languages, users can describe
the optimization problem by specifying the objective function
and constraints; the language will then translate the problem
into a matrix form and pass it to solvers. However, most of these
languages are not free. If budget is a concern, languages such as
C/C
, JAVA, Python and MATLAB can also be used to formulate the problem. The advantage of using these languages is
that they are easy to access; however, users are responsible for
formulating the problem in a matrix form, which could be challenging for large problems.
Depending on the nature of the problem, different solvers
can be used. The commonly used commercial solvers include
CPLEX [17], Gurobi [18], XPRESS [27] and Knitro (nonlinear
solver) [28], all of them offer free academic licenses. Apart from
the commercial solvers, free solvers such as CBC [29], SCIP
[30], and IPOPT [31] are also available. NEOS server [32] offers
a free Internet-based service for solving optimization problems,
on which the solvers available represent the state-of-the-art in
optimization software.
When considering uncertainties and forecasting, programming the specific statistical methods in practical software is
very important to derive industrial prototypes and products.
Sophisticated software tools popular among statisticians such
as R (CRAN) [33] should be used by students. The R software
has the advantage of being compatible with MATLAB. A large
spectrum of statistical methods are already programmed in R
and available online free of charge. Packages related to time
series analysis and forecasting, regression analysis and probability distribution estimation are readily available and updated
on a current basis. The available programs can be accessed,
manipulated and advanced. The MATLAB statistics and signal
processing toolboxes are also very useful.
A. Security Assessment of a Bulk Power System: A Case Study
This case study aims to exemplify some challenges in the
security assessment for contemporary bulk power systems and
to highlight fundamental principles and practical skills that are

QUINTERO et al.: NEXT GENERATION TRANSMISSION EXPANSION PLANNING FRAMEWORK

necessary for analyzing real-world problems. The base case is

developed based on a real-world planning case with approximately 20 000 buses, more than 4000 generators and a load
level that varies from 120 270 MVA in a lightly loaded scenario
to 176 410 MVA in a heavily loaded scenario. The renewables
penetration is approximately 6% of the total online generation
in the heavily loaded scenario and 15% in the lightly loaded
scenario. In order to focus on the security of the bulk transmission system, only the buses at 115 kV and above are considered in this study. Before running the simulations, the base case
is carefully tuned to ensure that the voltage magnitudes of all
studied buses and branch power flows are within their steady
state limits. The tuning procedure also needs to make sure that
the swing bus of each area is operating within its capacity limit.
In this study, both static and dynamic security analyses
are performed to assess the reliability of the base case. For
static security analysis, the steady state analysis tools in PSLF
(SSTOOLS) [12] and the voltage security assessment tool
(VSAT) in DSATools [10] are used. Both tools run power
contingency
flow calculations for pre-contingency and
conditions, detecting voltage and flow violations determined
by nominal values and in accordance with NERC reliability
standards [6]. The VSAT also has the ability to estimate static
voltage stability limits. Both tools can generate results in
Microsoft Excel sheets, including all violations identified in
pre-contingency and post-contingency conditions for analysis.
For a real-world planning base case with this size, it is expected that many unsolved contingency cases will be observed
in the results. Most of the non-converging cases can be solved
manually by tuning the power flow solution parameters (i.e.,
minor changes in load details and system parameters). Many
other convergence problems are due to islanding (e.g., an isolated generator at the end of a transmission line). The latter is
better detected with VSAT, which clearly identifies the islanding
problem. In any case, rechecking the obtained SSTOOLS results
with VSAT and vice versa has been found to be useful on identifying the true violations and critical points in the system. With
the above guidelines, 23 static critical contingencies (SCCs)
were identified in the heavily loaded scenario and 19 SCCs were
identified in the lightly loaded scenario of the given base case.
Additionally, the dynamic security assessment includes small
signal stability analysis and transient stability analysis. In this
case study the small signal stability analysis tool (SSAT) and the
transient stability analysis tool (TSAT) from DSATools are used
respectively for these analyses, in conjunction with the dynamic
simulation capabilities of PSLF to double check results.
Since there are numerous dynamic modes in the study case, it
is not a trivial task to identify and trace the dominant inter-area
and local modes in the system over different load scenarios.
From a regional perspective, in this case, only eleven modes
were identified as providing important information about the
small signal stability of the entire interconnected system. Eight
of them are inter-area modes and three of them are local modes
associated with converter control based generators (CCBG) representing wind and solar photovoltaic generators. The eleven
identified modes are shown in Table III. Letter I denotes interarea mode and letter L local mode. Some important characteristics of the new modes associated with CCBG are only observed in bulk systems, as described in detail in [34].
In bulk power systems, the number of contingencies for transient stability analysis should be limited to a practical number
because even with the batch processing tools like DYTOOLS

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TABLE III
MAIN IDENTIFIED MODES

from PSLF, the time and resources needed to run a large amount
of contingencies is still prohibitive. Two criteria that provide
credible information of potential weaknesses in the system are
the SCCs identified in the static security assessment and those
contingencies that historically have set the capacity limits of certain path ratings in terms of stability issues [35].
V. EXPERIENCE WITH CLASSROOM OFFERINGS
Some of the concepts and the use of the software cited were
incorporated into a first semester graduate course on transmission operation and planning. Prior to 2008, this course had enrollments typically in the range of 30 students, but the advent
of renewable resources and renewed interest in power systems
engineering seem to have reenergized the field, and enrollments
in the course have risen to over 100 students. At Arizona State
University, this course typically has about 75% Masters level
students, and 25% Doctoral level; and the students are typically
about 25% U.S. students, and 75% non-U.S. The students backgrounds vary significantly. The strengths of the students seem
to lie in the computer applications area. That is, the students are
either conversant with PSLF, Power World, and similar packages, or they are able to develop reasonably high sophistication
in the use of these tools very quickly. Additionally, the experience from the exercise is that the students are anxious to apply
concepts of solar and wind generation additions to test bed systems. Test beds that have been used and reported here are from
the WECC and these test beds are of various sizes depending on
the detail covered, the voltage level of the transmission system,
and the geographical coverage. The weaknesses of the students
are more difficult to identify, but these weaknesses may include
basic calculations of three phase AC circuits (e.g., per unit),
and the ability to recognize spurious answers in their calculations. Also, the students have had trouble expressing the results
of complex studies in a comprehensible manner.
A typical assignment that might be presented to beginning
students utilizes a thirteen-bus equivalent of a 500- and 250-kV
system. The system given has a specified load profile, and generation levels are specified at four generators. Then the students
would perform
security analysis on the given system and
report their results. Subsequently, the students would examine
5%, 10%,
, 25% load increases, and they would add photovoltaic or wind generation at assigned buses. The resulting

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Fig. 3. Grade distribution for an assignment on transmission expansion. Max, percentages show the percentage of the class in that score
imum grade
range.

system is no longer
secure. They are then asked to recommend transmission expansion. Tabular data are provided to
the students for transmission costs and corresponding capabilities of new circuits.
The results of an assignment as described are mixed: some
students simply try a few line additions and they seem insensitive to the cost of the expansion. Others discover that the software tools have sensitivity analysis capabilities, and these students often are able to obtain better (more economical) solutions. One issue that comes up in classroom discussion of these
assignments relates to system stability: the students have a difficult time in relating the stability of the dynamic system to simple
cases of over-current and undervoltage. However, the classroom
discussion of the meaning of power system stability seems to
help comprehension. An additional area that creates classroom
discussion is the solution for undervoltages in the system. Such
a discussion includes the IEEE operating voltage limits; the use
of static capacitors in the transmission system; and the setting
of generator terminal voltages. For example, in many locations
in the Western United States, 500 kV circuits are operated at a
high voltage range, e.g., 525540 kV, the reasons are discussed
in some detail in class. The grading of the indicated assignment
was based on:
Check for
compliance and introduction (15%)
Calculation of the capacity to accept added solar generation (15%)
Security assessment (10%)
Comparison of results with published levels of solar energy
expected in this region (10%)
Explanation of transmission expansion procedures in place
today (15%)
Technical writing and report format (20%)
Clarity of explanations (10%)
Supporting documentation (5%).
The grading criteria are given to the students in advance. The
resulting grades are shown in Fig. 3 (with a mean of about 72,
and standard deviation of 23).
The students response was obtained from three offerings of
the course in which enrollments were mainly on-campus graduate students. However, about 9% of the enrollees were undergraduates and another 9% were practicing professional persons
in industry. The industry professional students were off-campus
and they took the course via the Internet [36]. The main student

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 29, NO. 4, JULY 2014

reaction to the course was that they appreciated the use of diverse technical subjects from a range of areas in science and engineering to solve specific real problems. The fact that the real
problems often had the objective of incorporating renewable resources made the course response even better: the students often
favor integration of renewables as an approach to address energy and environmental issues. The course topics presented an
avenue to apply theory in an environmentally friendly manner.
A second main response of the students relates to the course
project. In the TEP course, a project was assigned to be completed near the end of the semester. As an example, an equivalent of the southwest U.S. transmission system was given and a
task was assigned to implement transmission expansion to accommodate large-scale solar generation resources. The students
often commented on the value of the realistic example. To document the positive student response, the course instructor notes
that many students list this project in their curriculum vitae.
There are several books [37][39] and online resources [40]
available to be used as reading materials in this course. Among
them, [37], [38] provide references for TEP models and algorithms from both research and engineering point of view. Reference [39] is a relatively new report that includes the integration
of renewable resources in the TEP process. Reference [40] is a
website for a graduate course taught at Iowa State University
and contains a consolidated set of notes on the topic. Nevertheless, a comprehensive textbook that is suitable for a TEP course
is still missing, which causes the resources used in the course
tend to be disbursed and sometimes even contradictory.
It appears that many academic sectors favor environmentally
appropriate solutions, but some of these sectors have general educational approaches (e.g., discussion and verbal analysis that
focus on problems) rather than a specific, engineering-sound solution approach. A course in TEP is exactly that: a sound engineering approach that includes the best knowledge from science
(and finance) to solve complex problems in electric power transmission expansion.
VI. GUIDE TO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
The previous discussion paves the way to set a clear curriculum development path for producing qualified transmission
planning engineers. The expected skills for qualified transmission planners are summarized in Fig. 4. First, a solid power
system background is a precondition; it gives the planners
a good understanding of the physics of the power system.
Second, knowledge of basic optimization theories is essential
for the next generation TEP studies; it ensures the planning
decision is desirable from the economic point of view. Third,
knowledge of statistical and probability theories are desirable,
it helps to address uncertainties, which are inherent in the
planning process with renewable generation resources [41].
Based on the above knowledge, familiarity with the software
tools listed in this paper, as well as having the ability to extract
useful information from a large amount of data is a necessity. In
addition, planning engineers should also have both good verbal
and written communication skills for the reason that it may
require frequent meetings and discussions with stakeholders.
The authors believe that a power engineering program that
follows the above guidelines will prepare the industry with
well-trained power systems planning engineers.
As for university curriculum development, considering that
students in the power engineering program may have diversified academic backgrounds, it is advisable to take the three-step

QUINTERO et al.: NEXT GENERATION TRANSMISSION EXPANSION PLANNING FRAMEWORK

Fig. 4. Expected skills for transmission planning engineers.

1917

for practical planners [46]. In fact, the inference in statistics is

based on a given assumed model and a set of past observations.
Forecasting needs the understanding of stochastic processes
theory and regression models [47]. For example, an assumed
load and dispatch model can be estimated using a developed algorithm [48] using past power consumption, weather behavior
and recorded variables such as temperature, wind speed and
received light. The obtained model is then used to forecast a
future scenario.
The use of detailed, real-size models in course projects and
research works would expose students to real-world problems
and the difficulties of dealing with large amount of data, recognizing trends and designing strategies to simplify analysis and
reduce processing time. Solving these real life practical problems would certainly provide a good opportunity for strengthening fundamentals and creative solutions.
This comprehensive curriculum development approach,
with a wide variety of topics included, may only be achievable through the cooperation of the electrical engineering
department with the mathematics and statistics department.
In some cases, it may be advisable for the students to take
special courses outside their universities and offered by leading
institutions in the field. In addition, due to budget constraints,
it is possible not to have all the commercial software presented
in Section IV in a single power system laboratory. However,
as mentioned in the same section, some of the tools are more
education oriented and complete versions can be obtained by
academic institutions for educational and research purposes at
reduced prices.

Fig. 5. TEP curriculum development.

VII. CONCLUSION
approach as described in Fig. 5. In the junior undergraduate
level, fundamental mathematics such as calculus and statistics
should be taught. Basic circuit analysis and signal processing
can also be taught at this level after the students have the corresponding mathematical knowledge. Computer programming is
another important topic that should be taught and used earlier
at this stage. At the senior undergraduate level, curricula should
be designed to include the topics of power flow studies, faults,
protection as well as basic stability studies. Meanwhile, it is also
suggested to introduce basic optimization theory [42], [43] engineering economics [44] and probability theory [45] to students
at this level. Thus, if a student does not want to pursue an advanced degree after the college education, the essential background to work as a power systems planning engineer is still
provided. The graduate curriculum should be an extension of
what students have learned in their undergraduate work. More
theoretical courses such as stability, optimization, linear and
nonlinear systems analysis, as well as advanced probability theories should be taught depending on the specialty of the faculties
to ensure students not only know how to use the tools, but also
have an in depth understanding of the theoretical basis behind.
In that sense, the students should have the ability to design a
new tool or tailor existing tools according to the requirement of
the studies conducted.
Tools and notions such as: random variables, probability
distribution and density functions, moments, cumulants are
necessary to conduct a stochastic or probabilistic power flow.
Knowledge of statistical and probability concepts is very
useful to understand the basis of and mathematically model
randomness. Statistical analysis and inference are important

This paper presents the regional transmission expansion

planning process from an educational perspective, identifying
competencies and skills needed for present and future transmission planners. A broad review of the topics, models and
software tools used in contemporary transmission expansion
projects is introduced, based on teaching and real-world research experiences.
A guide to curriculum development in response to the identified competencies and inter-disciplinary skills for qualified
transmission planners is proposed at undergraduate and graduate levels. Experiences with classroom offerings at the Power
Engineering Program at Arizona State University are presented.
Additionally, the applicability of the proposal by small power
engineering programs is considered.
As discussed in this paper, transmission planners should not
only have solid power systems knowledge and the ability to use
popular software tools, but also have an inter-disciplinary background that covers extensively in linear and non-linear systems
theory, optimization, advanced statistics as well as computer
programming. Furthermore, the TEP teaching and research experience presented in the paper has exposed the need for the
incorporation of real-world type problems in the curriculum of
the contemporary transmission planning engineer.
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Jaime Quintero (M06) received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering

from Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA, in 2005.
He was an assistant research scientist at Arizona State University, Tempe,
AZ, USA. He is currently a full Professor at the Universidad Autnoma de Occidente, Cali, Colombia.

Hui Zhang (S09) received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA, in 2013.
He is currently a real time operations engineer at California ISO, Folsom,
CA, USA.

Yacine Chakhchoukh (M10) received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from

Paris-Sud XI University, Paris, France, in 2010.
His industrial experience is with the French Electrical Transmission Operator
(RTE). He is currently with TokyoTech.

Vijay Vittal (S78F97) received the Ph.D. degree from Iowa State University,
Ames, IA, USA, in 1982.
He is currently the Director of the Power Systems Engineering Research
Center (PSERC) and is the Ira A. Fulton Chair Professor in the Department
of Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Dr. Vittal is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Gerald T. Heydt (S62M64SM80F91LF08) is from Las Vegas, NV,

USA. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, in 1970.
He is the Site Director of PSERC at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ,
USA.