Voltage flicker is a power quality problem in power distribution circuits (10) which is caused by the operation of fluctuating loads (18) such as AC and DC electric arc furnaces, spot welders, starting of large ac motors, and the like. Converters (12) based on Voltage Source technology (VSC) connected in shunt close to the fluctuating load are found to have the capability of reducing the voltage flicker level. Flicker control systems (20) responsive to the active and reactive power components are used to exploit the capabilities of VSC in accordance with the invention. The flicker control systems (20) reduce the voltage flicker observed at the point of common coupling by adapting, e.g., H-infinity, Linear Quadratic Gaussian, Mininum Variance Control, and self-tuning design methods for flicker control in power systems (10) having fixed or self-tuning flicker controller parameters.