Findings of a recently completed EPRI project conducting a comprehensive ev
aluation of optimal VAr planning/OPF tools are reported. Three selected too
ls were adapted to address VAr allocation studies on four large-scale utili
ty systems. The results obtained indicate that the use of such tools offers
significant savings in cost of added MVAr requirements and the number of a
llocated sites with reasonable and manageable computer execution times. Bas
ed on the adaptation requirements for the different programs and studies co
nducted, recommendations on enhancement areas for the selected tools are pr
ovided, One of the major concerns in these studies should be the implementa
bility of the results. This requires careful design including assignment of
controls and constraints that can be implemented in the field together wit
h the available tools to provide such requirements.