By integrating multi-agent technology with Stackelberg decision theory

a leader-follower hierarchical decision model is proposed for distributed restoration of a power system after blackout. The distributed decisionmaking system architecture is constructed with agent-oriented technology. Its internal function module is designed for all levels of the dispatching agent. The coordination mechanism of different agents is based on commitments and conventions. From the commitment

the behavior of dispatching is foreseen. The convention

which is susceptible to the accident during the restoration process

provides the flexibility for cooperation between the leader and followers in the dynamic environment. The simulation results show that the model proposed can not only effectively cope with the coordinate dispatching in the distributed decisionmaking process

but also flexibly deal with the problems encountered in the restoration process.