A regional power grid operation and planning method considering renewable energy generation and load control

•Thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) are used to regional power grid control.•TCLs are modeled as a simplified first-order equivalent thermal parameter model.•A novel TCLs control algorithm is proposed to maximize renewable energy usage.•The algorithm uses the state-queueing model and modified colored power algorithm.•The algorithm considers not only comfort levels but also fairness of customers.