  Load management is being recognized as an important option for active user
participation in the energy market. Traditional load management methods usually
require a centralized powerful control center and a two-way communication
network between the system operators and energy end-users. The increasing user
participation in smart grids may limit their applications. In this paper, a
distributed solution for load management in emerging smart grids is proposed.
The load management problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem
aiming at maximizing the overall utility of users while meeting the requirement
for load reduction requested by the system operator, and is solved by using a
distributed dynamic programming algorithm. The algorithm is implemented via a
distributed framework and thus can deliver a highly desired distributed
solution. It avoids the required use of a centralized coordinator or control
center, and can achieve satisfactory outcomes for load management. Simulation
results with various test systems demonstrate its effectiveness.
