PC-ADAM is a program that evaluates the economic costs and benefits of several distribution automation strategies. The strategies or options analyzed by this program include

• Option 1: automated fault location and service restoration
• Option 2: automated feeded reconfiguration and substation transformer balancing (requires Option 1)
• Option 3: extension of transformer lifetime by automated overload prevention
• Option 4: remote monitoring of breaker operation and resetting of recloser timings
• Option 5: remote capacitor switching for voltage/var control
• Option 6: remote regulator operation for voltage control (requires Option 5)
• Option 7: remote load tap changing of substation transformers
• Option 8: remote distribution system monitoring

For any combination of these options, PC-ADAM estimates the present worth values of all the costs and benefits of the selected selected options over a specified study time for the load management program. Based on the present worth values, a benefit/cost ratio is calculated for each selected option as well as for the sum of all options.

A special feature of PC-ADAM is the ability to perform a sensitivity study to determine which of the many model parameters have the most influence on the overall benefit/cost ratio. Through such analyses, the model parameters may be readily adjusted to obtain a realistic assessment of the feasibility of a utility undertaking some of these load management strategies. The program allows the utility analyst to change quickly any of the values assigned to the model parameters and to change easily the mix of management strategies considered.

The program is intended to be highly interactive with the user. Context-sensitive help messages allow the user to enter data without the need to refer to this User's Manual, and the program structure and the control menus are designed to permit one to use the program with little initial training or familiarity with it.

The many economic models and assumptions used in the analyses are described in a companion report Economic Models For Cost/ Benefit Analysis of Eight Distribution Automation Functions by J.K. Shultis and A. Pahwa, Report 234, Engineering Experiment Station, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, December 1991. This report on the models used as well as a user's manual for the code are provided in the code distribution package available from this site. These documents are given in both PostScript and ASCII formats.