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With the development of urban and rural infrastructure, the power system is enforced to operate nearly at its full capacity which result in heavily stressed power grid operation, greater loss, peak generation, security threat and instability of the electrical network. The performance of the legacy electric network can be enhanced by solving optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problems such as, tuning of the grid voltages, transformers tap setting, capacitor bank rating, allocation and sizing of flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) through computational intelligence tools. In last few decades, several optimization strategies are developed to solve ORPD problems but still research is in progress to leverage the performance of power system. In this line of thought, this paper provides a comprehensive literature of major optimization tools designed for the solution of ORPD problems with aim of improving the power system performance. The purpose of this study is to document up to date information on the optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD), ORPD incorporating FACTS, mathematical model of ORPD problems with corresponding constraints, mathematical model of FACTS in ORPD, and applications of ORPD. At the end, a new computational tool based on fractional calculus has also been introduced for performance improvement of traditional swarming techniques to support researchers in field of energy/power sector and carry out further research.