This paper presents a re‐examination of the active power direction method for locating the distortion sources in the power distribution network. The inaccuracies in the earlier analysis challenging the active power direction method are identified, and the claim of the inconsistency of the method is re‐examined. The article shows the derivation of the expression for the complex power, from which the equation for the active power flow through the point of measurement was derived in an explicit and in a normalised form. The derivations allow establishing the consumer dominance range at any harmonic frequency easily. Simulation results decisively support the theoretical findings. It is suggested that the main cause of uncertainty associated with the active power direction method is the stochastic nature of the amplitude and, especially, the phase between the harmonic current components.

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