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BREAKING NEWS: NIST picks EPRI for interoperability roadmap -- FERC wants to let
utilities recover smart grid dollars
The biggest roadblock to the adoption of smart grid technology by the electric
industry for years has been the absence of interoperability standards. The
gleaming array of snazzy proprietary technologies are a veritable minefield for
firms looking to make multi-million dollar investment decisions on technology that
could become obsolete, nearly impossible to service or replace and treacherous to
operate if the manufacturer goes out of business suddenly.
Most smart grid stakeholders are well aware of this dilemma and have looked for
hope in the various standards efforts at international bodies such as the IEEE’s
BPL, WiFi and WiMax processes (we found an IEEE smart grid interoperability slide
presentation with more on that) as well as industry-led efforts such as the ZigBee
Alliance, Europe’s OPERA and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance.
But that’s not enough. The whole smart grid needs to be fused with IP, high-level
security and iron-clad interoperability standards -- and a new champion has come
on the scene and is taking steps to get it done. His name is President Barack
Obama.
Obama’s predecessor was in favor of the smart grid but never seemed to show much
awareness of the problems in the industry or much interest in getting them fixed.
George Bush signed the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 (EISA) that
included the first-ever smart grid language including setting money and efforts
aside at DOE to get the smart grid done. Title 13 of that law sets out efforts to
get interoperability standards created (more on that later in this story).
But the Obama administration looks like it’s becoming an active player in getting
the job done after it chose to hang a portion of its stimulus hopes on the smart
grid industry to the tune of $4.5 billion in the American Recovery & Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (ARRA). His team apparently put its chief’s reputation for being
well-informed into action -- and studied the problems our industry is facing and
came up with a plan that includes letting utilities recoup smart grid investments
from ratepayers until standards are set.
Meanwhile, EISA gave the National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) the
job of getting interoperability standards happening and while Obama can’t take
credit for that, the pace of progress under his watch is remarkable.
BREAKING NEWS: Over the weekend, the National Institute of Standards & Technology
(NIST) picked EPRI as the winner of its RFP for to create an “interim roadmap” to
smart grid interoperability standards, we were told by Frances Cleveland of
Xanthus Consulting. EPRI signed up three main utility consultancy contractors to
help with the work of getting the roadmap handed in by May 28 -- Xanthus, Enernex
and HyperTek, she added.
The interim roadmap is “an enormous deal,” noted Cleveland, though “it’s not going
to solve the actual challenges, of which there are many, by any stretch of the
imagination. But at least it’s going to set a framework” for what needs to happen
next.
The partners are starting their work today, she added, and a number of open
conferences or workshops are planned. The only one with an announced date will be
May 19-20 at EEI headquarters in Washington, DC. “It’ll work to get all of the
stakeholders involved.
“This is the first government-funded effort to getting the smart grid to become a
reality,” Cleveland reported, adding that it’s a precursor to the distribution of
smart-grid-related stimulus money going out.
Title 13 of EISA set NIST -- an office of the Commerce Dept -- as a key player in
setting interoperability standards. NIST published a version of that title with
the NIST parts highlighted on its website for free download
(http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/EISA%20Energy%20bill%20110-140%20TITLE%20XIII.pdf).
The interim roadmap is to be a document that describes the issues and priorities
in creating interoperability standards plus an action plan that addresses the
issues.
NIST was founded in 1901, is a non-regulatory federal agency at Commerce and its
mission is to promote US “innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing
measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic
security and improve our quality of life,” said the institute’s website.
The institute “has been working with the smart grid community of stakeholders to
develop a plan and begin to do the work of addressing standards interoperability,”
said NIST’s smart grid web page (http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/). Much of the
effort happens within NIST’s six Domain Expert Working Groups: T&D, Building to
Grid for commercial building …
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