The increased requirements regarding the quality of power supply as well as the development of the transmission and distribution power networks brings about the need to connect new consumers and generators to the already-built electric networks, and these can be situated far from the existing substations. This paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of three technical solutions including simplified substations for evaluating and choosing the optimal alternative of connecting new consumers at the pre-design stage of a project. The presented cost-benefit analysis is based on the results of a comparison of three examined solutions under four examples of calculation conditions. The average annual costs have to be minimized. Thus, the selection of a rationally substantiated electric layout for connecting the new consumers is an important issue that must be taken into account for meeting the necessary future grid challenges more effectively and economically.