FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a system (computing environment) for implementing a method for modeling a topology of an electrical power system, in accordance with one embodiment. The method can be described in the general context of an application program that runs on an operating system 3228 in conjunction with a computer 3202. The application program can include code, applets, engines, routines, components, modules, objects, data structure, etc., that can perform particular processing tasks or implement particular abstract data types. As shown herein, the application can be comprised of various functional elements such as a component control engine 3230, a power system topology modeling engine 3232, and a component configuration engine 3236. It should be understood, however, that the application may include more or less engines, components, and/or modules than what is depicted herein FIG. 32. For example, in certain embodiments, the functionalities of the component control engine 3230, the power topology modeling engine 3232, and/or the component configuration engine 3236 can be combined into a single engine element. That is, there is no requirement for the application to be partitioned out into more than one engine element, as long as a single engine element possesses the functional capabilities of the component control engine 3230, the power system topology modeling engine 3232, and the component configuration engine 3236.
