AbstractIn this article, an efficient Discrete CoFFWA method is proposed to deal with distribution network reconfigurations. It is useful for minimizing the active power network losses by switching on/off sectionalizing switches and shunt capacitors. The mathematical formulation may be expressed as one of combinatorial optimization problems. This article presents a discrete version of cooperative framework for fireworks algorithm (CoFFWA) of advanced metaheuristics to solve distribution network reconfigurations efficiently. It is one of the efficient Fireworks Algorithms that imitate the behavior of firework explosion. To improve the solution accuracy, CoFFWA makes use of new strategies such as the independent selection method and the crowdness‐avoiding cooperative strategy. The proposed method transforms CoFFWA into discrete one with multipoint mutation. The proposed method is successfully applied to the IEEE 69‐node and 119‐node distribution networks.