In order to solve the reactive power optimization with joint transmission and distribution networks, a hierarchical modeling method is proposed in this paper. It allows the reactive power optimization of transmission and distribution networks to be performed separately, leading to a master-slave structure and improves traditional centralized modeling methods by alleviating the big data problem in a control center. Specifically, the transmission-distribution-network coordination issue of the

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... archical modeling method is investigated. First, a curve-fitting approach is developed to provide a cost function of the slave model for the master model, which reflects the impacts of each slave model. Second, the transmission and distribution networks are decoupled at feeder buses, and all the distribution networks are coordinated by the master reactive power optimization model to achieve the global optimality. Numerical results on two test systems verify the effectiveness of the proposed hierarchical modeling and curve-fitting methods.