A single unit would correspond to a N-1 case when doing a transmission system study. There are ways of automating steady state analysis for this case to do a full sweep across the nearby system (either looking at k hops away, all parts in a zone (where a zone has a specific meaning in this context), or using a utility provided set of assets for the analysis). This pretty much consists of running a load flow for each individual case and compiling the results while making sure they are valid (convergence, device behavior, etc).

This is only the steady state analysis, but there's also dynamics done when looking at specific generators also to look at a generator's response to fluctuations in voltage and frequency to ensure stability within certain operating conditions (weakening of the grid, rapid change in voltage or freq).

If they were wishy washy they were probably limited to doing distribution where you are assuming a single strong source (swing bus) at the substation and it's not your responsibility to think too much about adjusting the system behavior based off of changes in transmission (usually)