Allocation of fixed transmission costs by tracing compliant postage stamp method

Postage stamp allocation is unfair to those users who make limited usage of the network. MW power flow tracing was invented to assess the extent of network usage. MW power tracing, a post-facto analysis of power flow solution, is amenable to multiple solutions. This implies multiplicity of solution space of cost allocation problem. Existing tracing methods enforce a `proportionate sharing rule´ to solve the dilemma. Case studies indicate that with such a sharing rule, extent of network usage predicted for large and distant loads can be much higher than the postage stamp allocation. To alleviate this problem, we propose a tracing compliant modified postage stamp allocation method which computes a traceable solution that minimizes deviation from the postage stamp allocation. We show that tracing problem can be formulated as a linear constrained optimization problem. Thus, fairness among all network users is ascertained. Results on actual data of central transmission utility of Western Regional Grid of India demonstrate the claims