The paper deals with the issue of determining intermediate supply coefficients greater than unity. These intermediate supply coefficients are used when selecting settings for higher operating stages (e.g. stage III) of distance protection. Theoretical foundations are presented that enable the determination of the respective intermediate supply coefficients in a simple and quick manner. These theoretical foundations are based on the known and available distribution of three-pole short-circuit currents in a substation, viewed from the installation location of the observed distance protection. Namely, it should be noted that the aforementioned distributions of short-circuit currents are, as a rule, widely available. The application of the presented theoretical foundations is shown on a specific example of distance protection located in the 110 kV Peruca substation on the 110 kV Peruca - Busko Blato overhead line.