The Modeling and Application of Step Voltage

Regulators
W. H. Kersting, Life Fellow, IEEE
Milsoft Utility Solutions

Abstract Supplying every customer a voltage that is within

ANSI standards is a basic requirement of a distribution
feeder. As the load on a feeder varies the voltage supplied
to every customer will also vary. Some means of regulating
the customer voltages must be implemented. Switched shunt
capacitors and step voltage regulators are the two most
common means used for regulating voltages. This paper
addresses the modeling and the application of step voltage
regulators. A method of calculating the compensator R and
X settings will be presented. Examples of the application of
step voltage regulators with and without shunt capacitors
will be presented.
Index Terms Step voltage regulators, shunt capacitors,
compensator settings, ANSI voltage standards, IEEE Test
Feeders
I.

INTRODUCTION

Every customer on a distribution feeder must be supplied a

voltage that is within ANSI standards [1]. Every customers
voltage will vary as the load on the feeder varies. In order to
satisfy the ANSI standard, the utility must have means of
regulating the feeder voltage. The two most common
methods are the application of switched shunt capacitors and
step voltage regulators. The step voltage regulators may be
located in the distribution substation or downstream from the
substation. The distribution engineer must have a means of
analyzing the feeder voltages in the present in the future.
This is typically done with the application of a power flow
program such as Milsofts Windmil [2]. The power flow
program must be capable of modeling both the shunt
capacitors and the step voltage regulators. The modeling of
shunt capacitors is straight forward and will not be addressed
in this paper. The modeling of step voltage regulators can be
complex. In particular it is critical to be able to model the
compensator circuit since this is the control that determines
when a tap change is necessary. The compensator model will
include the voltage level, the bandwidth and the R and X
settings. This paper will address the modeling of the step
voltage regulators and then the application of step voltage
regulators in controlling the feeder voltage.
II. THE ANSI VOLTAGE STANDARD

W. H. Kersting is a consultant to Milsoft Utility Solutions and a partner in

WH Power Consultants, Las Cruces, NM.
Corresponding e-mail for this paper: bjkersting@zianet.com

The ANSI standards give the distribution engineer a range

of normal steady-state voltages (Range A) and a range of
emergency steady-state voltages (Range B) to be supplied to
all customers. The two ranges are:
1.

2.

Range A
a. Nominal Utilization Voltage = 115 volts
b. Maximum Utilization Voltage = 126 volts
c. Minimum Service Voltage = 114 volts
d. Minimum Utilization Voltage = 110 volts
Range B
a. Nominal Utilization Voltage = 115 volts
b. Maximum Utilization Voltage = 127 volts
c. Minimum Service Voltage = 110 volts
d. Minimum Utilization Voltage = 107 volts

The two critical voltages are the Maximum Utilization

Voltage and the Minimum Service Voltage. Both of these
voltages are measured at the customers meter.
The
Maximum Utilization Voltage will be the meter voltage at
the customer closest to the substation. Typically this voltage
is measured at the meter when the customer has no loads on.
This implies that there is no voltage drop through the
transformer, secondary and service drop. The Minimum
Service Voltage will occur when the customer has the
maximum load on and will include the transformer,
secondary and service drop voltage drops.
In addition to the Range A and B requirements, the ANSI
Standard recommends that the feeder should be operated so
that the voltage unbalance at three-phase loads will not
exceed 3%. Voltage unbalance is defined as:
Voltage unbalance

Max. deviation from average voltage

100% (1)
Average voltage

The task for the distribution engineer is to design and

operate the distribution feeder so that under normal steadystate conditions the voltages at the meters will lie within
Range A and the voltage unbalance will not exceed 3%.
The ANSI voltage standards provide the basis for
establishing guidelines for an acceptable voltage profile from
the substation to the most remote customer. An example of a
typical voltage profile is shown in Fig. 1.

Laterals
Sub

Preventive
Autotransformer

Reg

N1

IS

128
126

M ax Load

124

Reversing
Switch

Series
Winding

IL

122

M in Load

120

VS

118
116

N2

Control
CT

Shunt
Winding

114

Control
PT

Reg
Output

First
Customer

Reg.
Point

Last
Xfm

Fig. 1 shows a typical voltage profile from the substation to

the most remote customer for both maximum and minimum
load conditions. Under maximum load conditions it is
usually assumed, on a 120 volt base, that there will be a one
volt drop through the service drop, a two volt drop through
the secondary and a three volt drop through the transformer.
With an acceptable low voltage of 114 volts at the customers
meter, this requires that the input voltage to the transformer
should not be lower than 120 volts under the maximum load
condition. When running a power flow study that models
down to the primary of the distribution transformers all
voltages must lie between 126 and 120 volts. Notice in Fig. 1
that a regulation point has been defined. The idea here is
that as load varies, the regulation point becomes the pivot
point for the profile. In other words, the voltage at the
regulation point will remain constant as the load varies. In
Fig. 1 it is shown that during minimum load conditions the
output of the regulator has been reduced and the voltage at
the last customer is greater. This is the desired operating
condition that is the basis for determining the settings for the
control circuit (compensator) of the substation voltage
regulator. Note also in Fig. 1 that there are laterals tapped off
the main feeder so that the current leaving the regulator will
not be the same as the current arriving at the regulation point.
III. THE STEP VOLTAGE REGULATOR
A step voltage regulator consists of an autotransformer and
a load tap changing mechanism. The voltage change is
obtained by changing taps on the series winding of the
autotransformer. The position of the tap is controlled by the
compensator circuit. Standard step-regulators contain a
reversing switch enabling a 10% regulator range, usually in
16 steps up and 16 steps down. This amounts to a 5/8%
change per step or 0.75 volts change per step on a 120 volt
base. Step regulators can be connected in a Type A or Type B
connection according to the ANSI/IEEE C57.15-1986
standard [3]. The more common Type B connection is shown
in Figure 2.

VL
-

Last
Customer

Fig. 1 Voltage Profiles

SL

Fig. 2 Type B Step Voltage Regulator

Note that the input to the Type B step voltage regulator is
across the series and shunt windings. The Type A step
voltage regulator would have the load side connected across
the series and shunt windings. In Fig. 2 when a change in
taps is required the preventive autotransformer changes the
number of turns on the series winding ( N 2 ).
IV. THE STEP VOLTAGE REGULATOR MODEL
For a single-phase type B regulator the relationships
between the source voltage and current to the output voltage
and current are given by:
VL

1
VS
aR

I L aR I S

(2)

N
where: aR 1 m 2
N1
In (2) the minus sign is when the regulator is in the raise
position and the plus sign for the lower position.
The actual number of turns on the series and shunt
windings is not known, however, each change in tap changes
the voltage by 5/8% or 0.00626 per unit. Therefore the
effective regulator ratio can be given by:
aR 1 m0.00625 Tap

(3)

In (2) and (3) the minus sign is for the regulator in the
raise position, the plus sign is when the regulator is in the
lower position.
Single-phase regulators can be connected in wye, delta and
open delta for three-phase lines. For all of the connections
the general three-phase model is shown in Fig. 3. [4]

 I S abc
VS abc

I L abc

VS abc a VL abc
I S abc d I L abc

MVA rating

VL abc

aR _ a

I A

I
B

IC

0
1
aR _ b
0

ABC d I abc

V ag

V bg

V cg

+ Vdrop +

N PT :1

(4)

Ia

0 Ib

I c
1
aR _ c

Reg. Point

1:1

In Fig. 3 if the regulators are connected in wye the voltages

will be the line-to-neutral voltages. If the regulators are
connected in delta (open or closed) the voltages will be lineto-line. In all cases the currents will be the line currents by
phase.
The general equations for three regulators connected in
grounded wye are:

R line jXline

CTp CTs

Ic
R c + jX c

kVLLhi kVLLlow

Fig. 3 Three Phase Voltage Regulator Model

aR _ a
0
0
V AG

V 0
a
0

BG
R
_
b

VCG
0
aR _ c
0
VLG ABC a VLG abc

Iline

(5)

Note in (4) and (5) that each regulator can have different
tap settings.
V. THE COMPENSATOR CIRCUIT
The changing of taps on a regulator is controlled by the
line drop compensator.
A simplified circuit of the
compensator and how it is connected to the feeder through a
potential transformer and a current transformer is shown in
Fig. 4.
There are four settings that are required for the
compensator circuit. Whether the compensator is analog or
digital, the following settings must be made.
1. Compensator R and X settings
2. Voltage Level: the desired voltage to hold at the
regulation point
3. Bandwidth: defines the allowed variance of the
regulation point voltage centered on the desired
Voltage Level.
4. Time Delay: the time delay before a tap change is
made when the voltage relay voltage is not within
the bandwidth

Vreg

VR

Voltage
Relay

Fig. 4 Compensator Circuit

The goal of the compensator circuit is such that the voltage
across the compensator voltage relay will be a scale model of
the actual voltage at the regulation point. Another way of
looking at it is to have the per-unit voltage of the compensator
voltage relay equal to the per-unit voltage at the regulation
point. In order to make this happen a set of base values for
the line and for the compensator circuit must be chosen as
follows:
Select the system line-to-neutral voltage ( VLN ) as
the base line voltage
Select the primary rating ( CTp ) of the current
transformer as the base line current
With these bases selected for the line, the remaining perunit bases become:
Line base impedance:
V
Zbaseline LN
CT p

(6)

Compensator base voltage:

V
Vbasecomp LN
N PT

(7)

Compensator base current:

Ibasecomp CTS

(8)
where CTS secondary rating of the current transformer
Compensator base impedance:
Zbasecomp

Vbasecomp
Ibasecomp

(9)

With these base values chosen the per-unit line impedance is:
Zline pu

Zline
Zbaseline

(10)

The compensator impedance in ohms is:

Zcompohms Zline pu Zbasecomp

(11)
The compensator impedances are normally set in units of
volts. The settings in volts are computed by:
Zcompvolts Zcompohms CTs

(12)

Substituting the above (6)-(11) into (12) gives the final

equation for computing the R and X settings directly from
knowledge of the equivalent line impedance in ohms.
CT p
Zvolts Zline
N PT

(13)

The voltage level setting is the voltage on a 120-volt base

that will be held at the regulation point. To limit the number
of tap changes made as load changes a bandwidth is set so
that the taps are only changed when the relay voltage is
outside of the bandwidth. This is illustrated in Fig. 5. The
bandwidth is two times the allowed deviation above or below
the set voltage level.

N PT

VLN rated
120

(15)

The primary rating of the current transformer ( CT p ) is

selected to be at least equal to the rated feeder current. For
most compensator controls the secondary current ( CTs ) is
0.2 amps.
With the potential transformer ratio and current
transformer ratings determined and line equivalent line
impedance computed for each phase, Equation 13 is used to
determine the R and X settings in volts.
VI. THE IEEE 13-NODE TEST FEEDER

Voltage Level

The IEEE 13 Node Test Feeder [8] is modified to

demonstrate how the compensator settings are determined.
The one-line diagram is shown in Fig. 6.
123
122

650

Bandwidth = 2 V

121

646

645

611

684

632

633

634

Fig. 5 Voltage Level and Bandwidth

In Fig. 5 the voltage level has been set at 122 volts with a 2
volt bandwidth. Since each tap changes the voltage by 0.75
volts, it is possible (and not unusual) that two different tap
settings can occur for the same load condition.
The major concern now is what is the value of the line
impedance that is to be set? There are many ideas on how to
determine the impedance. A quick surfing of the Web. found
three different approaches. [5]-[7]. The method that will be
used in this paper differs from the referenced three. This
method computes the equivalent impedance from the
regulator to the regulation point under a maximum load
condition with no shunt capacitors connected.
The first decision that has to be made is to identify the
feeder node that will be the reference point. Again, there are
many ways of selecting this node. One approach that can be
used for a voltage regulator located in the substation is to use
the load center node. This would be a node on the system
where one half of the feeder load has been dropped off to the
upstream laterals. When regulators are placed out on the
feeder a method that works is to run a power flow study with
maximum load with no shunt capacitors connected. Set the
substation voltage to 126 volts and then find the downstream
node where the voltage has dropped to 120 volts. This
becomes a logical node for the installation of a voltage
regulator.
With the regulation point identified, the R and X settings
are computed by:
For i = a,b,c
Vregi Vreg _ pti
Zlinei
Iregi
The potential transformer ratio is determined by

(14)

652

671

692

675

680

Figure 6 IEEE 13 Node Test Feeder

The IEEE 13 Node Test Feeder was originally developed to
test the convergence capabilities of different software
programs. The feeder is highly unbalanced and is a good test
for convergence. For this paper the feeder is modified to
balance the system better so that a straight forward
application of the substation voltage regulators can be
demonstrated. The modifications are:
Line 671-684 changed to phases B-C
Transformer 633-634 changed to ungrounded wye
delta with the same voltages, kVA rating and
impedance
Load at 634 converted to a delta PQ
Load at 645 changed to delta PQ
Load at 652 changed to phase B wye-PQ
Load added to 680 of wye PQ of 300 + j145.3 kVA
Node 671 was selected as the regulation point. The circuit
was solved for full load conditions with no shunt capacitors.
The source voltages at node 650 are:

 2401.8

0
120

deg
120

arg V650
i

V650 2401.8

i
2401.8

121.3

(16)

The voltages at node 671 are:

2216.8

V671 2236.8

i
2128.2

3.5
124.6

deg
114.8

arg V671
i

(17)

The currents leaving the regulator are:

566.88

Ireg 657.24

i
731.32

34.55
150.95

deg
81.18

arg Ireg
i

(18)

The equivalent per phase line impedances are computed using

(14).

Zline

V650 V671
i
i

Ireg
i

Zline 0.0843 0.3688j

0.1355 0.4475j
(19)

Apply Equation 13 to compute the per phase compensator R

and X settings.
CTP

Zvolts Zline
i
i NPT

4.8792 13.5045j

Zvolts 2.9517 12.9091j

Equation 20 shows that the three regulators will require

different R and X settings in order to hold the desired voltage
on each of the phases at node 671. Typically each regulator
will have the same R and X settings so the average value
from Equation 20 is used for the R and X settings for each of
the three regulators.
Zset 4.2 14j

volts

(21)

Each regulator R and X is set to the result of Equation 21.

The voltage level is set to 122 volts with a 2 volt bandwidth.
The shunt capacitors are still switched off. The regulator taps
for this condition are:
Tapa

Tap
b

Tapc

12
14
16

The voltages, on a 120 volt base, at node 671 are:

The node voltages for phases a and c satisfy the voltage level
within the bandwidth but the phase b voltage is outside of the
bandwidth. This is not unusual. It was found that in order to
force all three voltages to be within the bandwidth around 122
volts different R and X settings necessary for each phase.
Since they were all set to the same, the result is that phase b
does not quite get inside the bandwidth. It may be noted that
the phase c tap is at the maximum tap of 16.
The original data for the IEEE 13 node test feeder has a
300 kvar three-phase shunt capacitor bank connected at node
675 and a 100 kvar phase c bank at node 611. When these
capacitor banks are switched on the voltages at node 671 are:
121.2
VLG 671 123.2
121.7

Tapa

Tap
b

Tapc

(24)

11
13
14

(22)

(25)

Again the phase b voltage is outside of the bandwidth but

none of the taps is at the maximum position.
The final check is on the percentage voltage unbalance
according to (1).
Vunbalance

4.7417 15.6634j

20)

Zset mean ( Zvolts )

(23)

120.9

The taps for this condition are:

0.1394 0.3858j

VLG 671 123.7

max( dev )
Vavg

100 Vunbalance 0.96

(26)
The analysis shows that the voltage regulation is OK and the
voltage unbalance is well within the 3% limit.
At this point the feeder can be fine tuned by adding
shunt capacitors to correct the power factor at the substation
to be close to unity. Once that is done it would be good to
look into the future and let the loads increase to determine if
the desired voltage regulation is still being achieved.
The 13 node test feeder has been used to demonstrate how
the regulator settings can be determined. In this case only the
substation regulator is in question. Although there are many
ways in which the R and X settings can be calculated the
method presented here is straight forward and from the
authors experience works well in most situations.
A different situation occurs when the voltage regulation on
a feeder can not be achieved with just a substation regulator.
In particular, for long lightly loaded feeders, correct voltage
regulation requires additional regulators. The IEEE 34 node
test feeder will be used to illustrate how the location and the
settings for feeder regulators can be determined.
VII. THE IEEE 34-NODE TEST FEEDER

The one-line-diagram of the IEEE 34 Node Test Feeder [8]

is shown in Fig. 7. This test feeder is based upon an actual
feeder in rural Arizona. Left out of this diagram is the
location of two feeder regulators. The goal here is to
determine the number of regulators and possible locations
along with their settings.

node 830 along with the currents leaving node 812 are used
to compute the R and X settings for this regulator.

Zline

V812 V830
i
i

848

802 806 808 812 814

850

822

846

820

844

864

818
824 826
816

832

800
810

888 890

836

840

862
838

852
828

Zavg mean ( Zline)

830 854

856

Fig. 7 IEEE 34 Node Test Feeder

Step 1:
Three single-phase regulators are connected Y-Y and
installed in the substation, node 800. The regulators are
adjusted to hold 126 volts output and the power-flow program
is run. The location of the first downstream node that has a
voltage below 120 volts is determined. For this case the
voltages at node 812 are 116.8, 119.9 and 119.9 volts. This
defines the regulation point for a regulator at the substation.
From this study the actual line-to-ground voltages at the
source node 800 and the regulation node 812 along with the
line current leaving the substation are used to compute the R
and X compensator settings. The potential transformer ratio
is set to 120 and the primary rating of the current transformer
is set at 100 amps. Using the method as outlined in Section
VI the R and X settings for the substation regulator are:

Zline

V800 V812
i
i

I800
i

Zavg mean ( Zline)

Zset Zavg

CTP
NPT

Zline 14.2282 10.3885j

16.7798 9.0301j
Zavg 15.6069 9.0057j

842
834 860

858

I812
i

15.8128 7.5984j

18.2576 11.9959j

Zline 11.8369 11.763j

15.6215 9.5855j
Zavg 15.2387 11.1148j
Zset 12.7 9.3j

Zset Zavg

CTP
NPT

Zset 13 7.5j

These R and X settings are applied to the regulator and the

voltage level set to 120 volts. The results of the power-flow
study with the two regulators operating gives the voltages at
node 830 to be 119.3, 119.5 and 119.2. The taps on the
regulator at node 812 are 11, 6 and 7.
Step 3:
As before all of the node voltages downstream from node
830 are below 120 volts. As was done before, a regulator is
installed at node 830 and initially the voltage level is set to
126 with the R and X settings at zero. The result of the
power-flow study shows that all of the downstream voltages
are equal to or greater than 120 volts. The only exception is
node 890 which is at the end of a long 4.16 kV line. The
voltages at 890 are 106.9, 107.6 and 107.0. For this case
there is no need to set the R and X values. The only setting
for this regulator is to specify that the output voltage of the
regulator is set to 126 volts.
Step 4:
The only problem now are the voltages at node 890. This
node is at the end of a 2 mile long 4.16 kV line. The load at
node 890 is a balanced three phase load of 450 kW at 90%
power factor. The only way to fix the voltages is to install a
regulator at the output of the step down transformer between
nodes 832-888. Because there are no laterals between node
888 and 890, the R and X settings will be the positive
sequence impedance of the 4.16 kV line. This impedance is
computed to be:
Z 2.24 j1.876

These R and X settings are applied to the substation

regulator and the voltage level is set at 120 volts. The powerflow program is run and the voltages at node 812 are 117.9,
120.2 and 119.4 volts. The taps on the substation regulator
for this condition are 9, 8 and 7.

The potential transformer ratio for this regulator is 20 and the

primary rating of the current transformer is 100 amps. The R
and X settings in volts are:

Step 2:
At this point all of the nodes downstream from node 812
are below 120 volts. A regulator will be installed at node 812.
As was done before, the regulator will initially be set to hold
its output voltage at 126 volts. The results of the power-flow
study show the first node voltage that drops below 120 volts is
node 830 with voltages of 118.1, 119.1 and 119.0. Again the
actual line-to-ground voltages at the regulator at 812 and

The voltage level of the regulator is set to 122 volts. The

results of the power-flow study show that the voltages at node
890 are 118.9, 119.3 and 118.8 with the taps on the regulator
at 16, 15 and 15. It is obvious that the voltages havent quite
made it above 120 volts. The real problem is the voltage
regulators have pegged at +16 on one of the three phases. At
this point shunt capacitors are going to be needed to fix this
problem. The reactive power of the load is 75 kvar per phase.

Z set 11.2 j 5.4 V

A 300 kvar three phase shunt capacitor bank is installed at

node 890. The node voltages now are 121.0, 122.7 and 122.5
with the regulator taps at 10, 11 and 10. The capacitors along
with the voltage regulator now supply the load with voltages
that are greater than 120 volts and the regulators have not
pegged.
Step 4:
The last adjustment will be to add shunt capacitors so that
the substation output is close to unity power factor. At this
time the reactive powers being supplied by the substation are
336, 254 and 192 kvar. To correct the power factor the
following capacitors are installed.
Node 822 phase a: 100 kvar
Node 848 three-phase: 300 kvar
Node 836 three-phase: 300 kvar
With these capacitors connected the reactive power supplied
by the substation is 18, 44 and -12 kvar.
Table 1 gives the final settings for the four regulators.

Regulator
800
812
830
888

Table I
Final Setting
R and X
Volt Level
12.7 + j9.3
120
13.0 + j7.5
120
0 + j0
126
11.2 + j5.4
122

the regulation points for a substation regulator and

downstream regulators was demonstrated for the two test
feeders. The authors method for the computation of the R
and X settings was developed and demonstrated on the two
test feeders.
IX. REFERENCES
1.

2.
3.

4.
5.

Taps
8, 7, 6
8, 5, 6
8, 7, 8
10, 10, 10

Table II gives the final voltages in and out of the four

regulators.
Table II
Node Voltages
Regulator Node
Voltages In
Voltages Out
800
Phase a
120
126.3
Phase b
120
125.5
Phase c
120
124.7
812
Phase a
119.0
125.3
Phase b
120.8
124.7
Phase c
119.3
124.0
830
Phase a
119.3
125.6
Phase b
119.7
125.2
Phase c
118.8
125.1
888
Phase a
120.4
128.4
Phase b
120.1
128.1
Phase c
120.1
128.1
The voltages at the most remote nodes are:
Node 890: 121.7, 122.6, 121.8
Node 840: 121.6, 121.4, 121.7
It is noted that most of the node voltages are within the
120 volt range. The voltages out of the regulator at node 888
are above 126 volts but since there are no loads along the line
that is acceptable. This was necessary in order to have at
least 120 volts for the load at node 890.
VIII. SUMMARY
A model for step voltage regulators has been described in
this paper. The application of the model was used in two
IEEE Test Feeders. Methods for determining the location of

6.
7.

8.

American National Standard for Electric Power

Systems and Equipment Voltage Ratings (60) Hertz,
ANSI
C84.1-1995,
National
Electrical
Manufacturers Association, Rosslyn, Virginia, 1996.
Milsoft Utility Solutions, Inc. Product Documents
[Online}, Available: http://www.milsoft.com/
IEEE Standard Requirements, Terminology and Test
Code for Step-Voltage and Induction Regulators,
ANSI/IEEE C57.15-1996, Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers, New York, 1988.
W. H. Kersting, Distribution System Modeling and
Analysis, 2007, CRC Press, Baca Raton, Florida.
Voltage Regulators 225-10, [Online], Available:
http://www.cooperpower.com/Library/Literature/secti
on-asp?ProductLineID=17
Setting
the
Control,
[Online],
Available:
http://beckwithelectric.com/Instruction-Books/M6200-IB-01MC2%20(7-08)%20Screen.pdf
SEL-2431 Voltage Regulator Control, [OnLine],
Available:
https://customer.selinc.com/metadot/index.pl?
id=5799&isa=Category&op=show
IEEE Radial Test Feeders [Online], Available:
http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pes/dsacom/testfeeders.html
X. BIOGRAPHY

W. H. Kersting (SM64, F89, Life Fellow 2003) was born in

Santa Fe, NM. He received the BSEE degree from New
Mexico State University, Las Cruces, and the MSEE degree
from Illinois Institute of Technology. He joined the faculty at
New Mexico State University in 1962 and served as Professor
of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Electric Utility
Management Program until his retirement in 2002. He is
currently a consultant for Milsoft Utility Solutions. He is also
a partner in WH Power Consultants, Las Cruces, NM.